


Black Rainbow

by pokemonsonicgirl123



Category: Gundam Wing, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: Crossover, Fan Characters, Gen, Other, Phyco & Soliera should have been the villains, Pokemon Trainers, Pokemon/Gundam Wing Crossover, USUM is shit, because it's never been done before
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:29:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 120,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22643392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pokemonsonicgirl123/pseuds/pokemonsonicgirl123
Summary: Just a few seconds after the falling piece of Libra has been destroyed, an Ultra Wormhole suddenly opens and swallows all the five Gundam pilots and flings them to the Alola region in the Pokemon World, separating each other, and their Gundams, in the process. Heero and Trowa find themselves on Melemele Island, and are found by a female Pokemon Trainer named Remilia. Deciding to pose as university students from Unova, Remilia helps Heero and Trowa find their friends and Gundams, while at the same time, not reveal their status as Gundam pilots--or the existence of Gundams--to her. Unfortunately for them, two mysterious individuals begin following the group to all of Alola's islands, taking a very dark and personal interest in them, Heero and Duo especially.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Paradox Start

**Author's Note:**

> HI! This is my very first work on Archive of Our Own. For those who know me from FF.Net, you might be familiar with this fic already, but for those who don't, and this is your first time as a result, welcome to this little crossover fanfic!
> 
> This came about after I played Pokemon Sun and Moon nonstop and from having watched Gundam Wing for the very first time in my life. I've watched G Gundam and the 08th MS Team before, so I went and watched it because of that. Considering that I've watched Gundam Wing only for the first time, I might be likely to get some things wrong, and my grasp on the characters is rather rocky at best, so please bear with me. If any of the Wing boys come across as OOC to you guys, then I'm sorry.
> 
> Many thanks to Wings Landing for showing me how to post a work (one with multiple chapters especially, and I hope to God I'm doing this right) on AO3, she was a big BIG help to me in this making it to AO3 and I couldn't express my thanks enough for her.
> 
> That being said, please enjoy Black Rainbow! Because of my work schedule, I have no plans to upload many chapters on one sitting so my plan is to post a chapter every other day.
> 
> Thank you all for taking the time to read this AN, so I'll leave you to enjoy the ride! Please leave a review if you can! ^^

♫♩*~Ruins - Pokémon Sun and Moon~*♫♩

A light breeze blows over Melemele Island, leaves from various trees dancing in the sunlight. The sound of the leaves make a beautiful yet ominous ambient noise against the moss-covered stone walls that belie the Ruins of Conflict at the end of Mahalo Trail.

During the period of beautiful ambience, two teenage boys--one with tousled dark brown hair, the other with a large long bang of a lighter color--lie unconscious in different positions just a few yards away from the entrance of the Ruins of Conflict. The cool breeze prickling their skin through their clothing made them stir. The dark-haired boy was the first to roll onto his back slowly, his dark green tank top catching dust in the back, his skin-tight bicycle shorts glistening slightly in the tropical sunlight. He rubbed his sapphire blue eyes as he sat up.

The boy, Heero Yuy, looked around his surroundings. He and his companion Trowa Barton (who is also just getting up), are obviously in a jungle--possibly near some temple. He also attempted to jog his memory of what had happened just before he fell unconscious. He remembers fighting alongside his comrades against White Fang, OZ’s mobile dolls and their stronghold Libra, and just then, from the corner of his eye in Wing Zero’s cockpit, there was a flash of white-blue light, causing the computer to go haywire just before Heero saw all black. He wondered if he and Trowa actually got transported to this place, possibly through either dimensional or time travel.

Heero turned to the Heavyarms pilot, who was holding his head for possible pain he might have been feeling just from landing here. “Are you alright?”

Trowa sighed, his green eyes meeting Heero’s. “I think so,” he replied.

Heero let out an exhale and got up, Trowa following suit, the latter dusting off this gray pants and dark teal turtleneck.

“Did we just get transported to here?” Trowa asked.

“Who knows?” Heero replied. “I don’t even know if we travelled to a different dimension or different timeline.”

“Or it could be neither of those things and we just got teleported to this place that’s likely to be somewhere on Earth.”

“I wouldn’t say that. Look.”

The green-eyed pilot looked in the direction Heero was facing. He stared at the wall, eyes paying attention to every intricate marking of the entrance. The most intriguing detail is the yellow spot at the top of the entrance. What does this even mean?

“From the looks of the entrance,” Heero spoke up. “I don’t think this is something you would normally see in a temple, shrine or whatever this might be.”

“I’m beginning to think you’re right,” Trowa said.

There was a brief silence between them before the green-eyed pilot spoke. “Although I am more worried about the others.”

Heero tilted his head slightly to the ground, his light gold sneakers just barely entering his vision. The others… he wondered if they all got pulled into the same blue light as himself and Trowa. He didn’t want to believe it; he didn’t want to think this might be the case. But if it did happen to the two of them, then that would mean that they’ve got to be around here somewhere, right?

♫♩*No BGM*♫♩

Suddenly, Heero’s line of thought was interrupted when he heard a rustling noise in the shrubbery near him and Trowa. His eyes darted to the moving leaves and slowly reached for his handgun tucked into the back of his bicycle shorts.

But just as he was about to pull it out, a green head attached to a long green neck popped up, catching the Gundam pilots off-guard. Their eyes widened a little as the creature--who looks vaguely like a dragon--only looked straight back at them. Upon further examination, the dragon creature appears to have red glass-like circular membranes over its actual eyes and green antennae.

The dragon creature looked at them quizzically, tilting its head. This action led Heero to relax his grip a little on his gun, but still kept the suspicious look on his face. That definitely confirmed his and Trowa’s hunches that they’re in a different dimension.

“Hey, Flygon, what did you see just now?” a girl’s voice was heard.

Seemingly in response, the dragon creature raised its rhombus red-trimmed wings and flapped its way out of the bushes and lands in front of the two slightly (keyword “slightly,” knowing them) flabbergasted Gundam pilots. The dragon creature hunched down a little, and a girl climbs off of its back.

The girl seems to be a year younger than them--albeit short with a large bust--and has wavy pink hair with brown tints, bright blue eyes, a white midriff-baring tank top with gray-and-pink heart patterns, light blue short shorts, white over-the-knee socks, red and black trekking shoes, a white shoulder bag, a hot pink fanny pack, a strange armband, a black leg band, and a reddish-pink spotted trucker hat.

“Um, who are you guys?” the girl asked. “You don’t look like you’re from Alola.”

The pilots’ eyes hardened a little, unsure of what to say or how to respond. There was only a little relief that the girl dresses in modern clothing like they do, the armband notwithstanding, but, as Gundam pilots, they have been following their orders to keep their status as Gundam pilots as unknown as possible, even if it’s another dimension or different timeline. 

♫♩*~A Moment With You - 2nd Super Robot Wars OG~*♫♩

“You’re from Unova, aren’t you?” the girl asked again, breaking Trowa and Heero from their thoughts. “I can tell from the way you dress. Nineties and eighties fashions are a huuuuge thing in Unova.”

Unova? Alola? This is getting confusing for even Heero and Trowa by the second the longer they stare at her. But, on the other hand, the girl did say nineties fashion, since it made a rather long-standing popular comeback to the After Colony era, so saying so might function as a cover story for them

“Yes,” Heero replied. “We are from Unova.”

“We were doing some sightseeing but we got separated from our friends,” Trowa added.

“You were?” the girl asked almost skeptically. “Hey, since you’re from Unova, do you two go to U-squared?”

Heero blinked only once. “U-squared?”

“Yeah, U-squared. Unova University. It’s also in Castelia City, I think. Well, on the inner outskirts, anyway.”

Heero rummaged through his brain to search for an accurate-as-possible answer when Trowa cut in. 

“That’s the other name for Unova University?”

The girl shrugged. “That’s what my late dad told me.”

“Your late father also went to Unova University?” Heero asked.

“Yup. He was always calling it U-squared.”

“We weren’t familiar with that term. Actually, we’ve never heard of anyone use that term. We’ve always heard of... Unoversity.”

The girl burst into a fit of giggles. “That’s a really dumb name for Unova University! Oh, yeah!” She then extended her hand to Heero. “My name is Remilia. I’m a Pokémon Trainer. What’re your names?”

Heero hesitantly took Remilia’s hand and shook it lightly. “Heero Yuy.”

Trowa did the same once the Wing Zero pilot was done. “Trowa Barton. It’s really nice to meet you.”

“Hey, much obliged,” Remilia replied. “If you guys would like, I’ll help you find your friends. They’re from U-squared too, right?”

“Actually, that would be great,” Trowa replied took up the offer.

“Well, here.” Remilia paced to the dragon creature and patted its side with her hand. “We’ll search by air and ground. A ride Pokémon like Flygon here can easily carry three, so it should be all right.”

“But you say this… Flygon carries only three,” said Heero.

“Well, at least it’s better than being _carried_ by one,” said Remilia reassuringly as she climbed up on the padded seat strapped around the Flygon. “Having its claws dig into your clothes or skin is no fun, believe me.”

Neither boy said anything as they climbed up the Flygon (Heero first, Trowa last) and Heero wrapping his arms around Remilia’s waist (with Trowa doing the same to Heero), only placing his hands on her tank top where her stomach is.

“Shall we get going?” said Remilia, gripping the handle bars. “Hold on tight, now. Let’s go, Flygon!”

The Flygon complied, and lifted itself, Remilia and the two pilots into the air with a few strong hearty flaps and thrusts itself high into the blue Alolan sky.

As amazing as it is to ride a Flygon or some other flight creature, neither Heero nor Trowa were really feeling it (to them, it’s no different from flying in the sky or space while in their Gundams or any other mobile suit). All they ever worried about whether it was right to play along with what Remilia suggested--or rather, speculation--and make a fib out of it just for the sake of secrecy. On the other hand, if Heero and Trowa just tell her that they’re actually Gundam pilots from a different dimension and timeline, there is absolutely no way that she would believe them, maybe call them delusional LARPers. Though neither said anything to each other, they both readily understood that they would have to play along as university students from another country (or region, or whatever she or this world calls it), at least until they find their friends, retrieve their Gundams and find a way to get back home. Although that does bring up the question: where would their Gundams even be, if Heero and Trowa and possibly the others got dumped into this dimension?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Melemele Meadow~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~Grass Land (World 1) - Kirby’s Epic Yarn~*♫♩

The yellow flowers swayed against the unconscious figure lying in the wide fields. The blonde boy stirred and awoke, sitting himself up in a comfortable position. Quatre Raberba Winner turned his head in different directions, his aqua blue eyes registering his new surroundings. He’s in a rocky field full of bright yellow flowers, their petals scattering and dancing in the breeze. What in the world just happened to him? His Sandrock Gundam? What about the others? Did they land into the same dimension as he, but possibly in different areas?

Quatre moved one of his hands to someplace else to stand himself up, but stopped immediately when he heard a squeak. Suddenly going still, he gradually moved his hand away from the spot where he heard the squeak. It was just another yellow flower. Was that sound all in his head? But, upon looking a little closer, this flower is slightly larger and shaped differently.

A tiny, white head with beady eyes suddenly popped out. Quatre made a startled sound and swiftly drew his hand away, eyes wide. Is this thing a toy lost by some child? Or is it something else almost entirely?

The little white creature latched itself onto the flowerby the pistil--which is noticeably larger than itself--and floated towards a still-shocked Quatre, its little black beady eyes in direct contact with wide aquamarine orbs.

The little white creature tilted its head in curiosity, and hovered around the Sandrock pilot, almost as if it’s examining him. Quatre relaxed almost immediately and chuckled as he put out his hand, palm exposed, as if gesturing the little fairy-like creature to land on it. 

The little creature simply stared at it, but did not do anything. Instead, it turned to the other direction and made a few small squeaks.

Other creatures either identical or similar to the little creature emerged from the yellow flowers, each of them carrying the same large flower the creature was carrying, others--the slightly bigger and different-looking ones--carry an even bigger flower, but by the stem and above their heads. Elsewhere, even more creatures that look vaguely like bee flies or even fairies emerged from a few treeholes.

Quatre faced the direction the fairy creature was facing and turned his head the other way where the bee fly-like fairies are coming towards him. He was concerned, but he didn’t sense any hostility coming from both parties.

One light yellow bipedal fairy creature fluttered a circle around him, creating an echoing chirp as it did. Quatre chuckled sheepishly as it flew away from him. A smaller bee fly creature buzzed around him in the same manner as the other similar-looking fairy creature. Another yellow fairy creature landed on the palm of his extended hand, with what appears to be a curious expression on its face.

Quatre let a smile form on his face as he uses his index finger to gently pet the fairy creature’s head. The creature purred slightly at the gentle rubbing. He directed his head to his surroundings yet again. This time, he’s surrounded by a lot of flower fairy creatures, each and all of them making cute noises of chatter consisting of curiosity and wonder, as if discussing where the Gundam pilot had come from. _Everything looks so nice here,_ he thought. _There are actual fairies in this world, and they’re floating and fluttering around me right now. It almost… feels like a dream._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile, Outside of Melemele Meadow~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

Flygon landed towards the rocky entrance to Melemele Meadow after flying around for less than ten minutes, crouching down to let Heero, Trowa, and an apparently irritated Remilia jump off the sand dragon Pokémon.

“So it’s just a few Fairy-type Pokémon in there,” Remilia said to the Dragon-type with a huff. “It’s not like they’re out to get you.”

Flygon let out a low growl as if to say that this is far that it’s going to take the three teenagers. Remilia puffed her cheeks in response, frowning.

“In any case,” Trowa spoke up. “I think we should start our search here. You did say we could look by air and ground.”

The pink-haired girl turned to face the taller teen, with a light scowl still present on her face. “I know that. I just wish that Flygon would simply land us into Melemele Meadow, as in, smack-dab in the middle of of it, on the rocks, better than on the flowers, actually. But apparently, he decided to be a chicken about it and like, not do it.”

“Is there a particular reason why this might be?” Heero asked.

“Well, Flygon here is a dual Dragon/Ground type. Dragon’s weak to Fairy. Fairy’s immune to Dragon. Melemele Meadow’s got plenty of Fairy-type Pokémon, which is why Flygon here was hesitant on landing directly in it.”

“Really,” Trowa said.

“Ride Pokémon are raised to be what it says on the box. What I don’t get is why would this Flygon be afraid of Fairy-type Pokémon if it’s not trained to be a regular fighting Pokémon for general battles. I mean, I get it’s part Dragon-type, but that’s hardly a good freaking reason.”

“Or it could be,” Trowa took a couple paces towards Remilia, after a brief moment of speculation. “Just like what you said, and it might actually be a good reason.”

She raised her brows, a little surprised. “What do you mean?”

“You said that Dragon is weak against Fairy,” he explained. “I might not be an expert on battling, or rather, I am not yet an expert on Pokémon, but I have been around them long enough to understand what they fear. In the case of Flygon being afraid of Fairy-types, even if it’s raised solely to be a ride Pokémon, it doesn’t mean you should berate it for being so afraid of just one--or possibly more--types it’s weak against. You could be labelled as a bad Trainer if you do just that. And besides, there might be some Fairy-type Pokémon in this place ahead of us.”

Remilia swallowed as she stared at Trowa, a light blush appearing on her cheeks. She tilted her head down slightly in a vain effort to hide the colored cheeks. “I never really force any of my Pokémon to do something if they don’t want to.”

“And you can’t force ride Pokémon like Flygon to do what it doesn’t want to either.”

“I wasn’t doing that either…”

“Whatever the case may be, I think your irritation towards it is a little uncalled for.”

Remilia knew from Trowa’s eyes that he’s very much right. (Being a university student studying Pokémon, that’s a given.) She was wrong to be a little irritated at Flygon just for being afraid of Fairy-types. She does get irritated with her team from time to time, but she never lets it out onto them. She also loves Pokémon more than anything, and firmly believes that all Pokémon have the potential to be something regardless if it’s battling, transport, or Poké Ride. Regardless, she would always felt guilty for being so, but she never expected to be lectured by someone like Trowa. She felt like a huge jerk just after listening to him.

She swallowed again and reached into her messenger bag and took out her green ride pager, with a special ball in the circular loop. She took the ball out and pointed the center button towards Flygon, and a beam of bright red light shoots out of it, engulfing Flygon and its ride gear and quickly absorbed it back into the ball. Remilia then placed the ball back in its place and put her ride pager away. She turned on her feet towards the Melemele Meadow entrance, but facing Trowa and Heero awhile. “Let’s just go inside to the meadow,” she said. “We could probably find your friends there, or at least one of them.”

“Let’s go,” said Heero as he and Trowa followed her through the entrance.

The trio then walked into and through it, which is actually a very short tunnel with the ceiling absent. In the distance, Remilia spotted a blonde individual with a light pink shirt, violet vest, and dark khaki pants sitting in the middle of the field of yellow flowers, surrounded by a lot of what she could make out as Cutiefly, Ribombee, Flabébé and Floette surrounding him. This observation caused her to stop in her tracks, somewhat flabbergasted. _Just what the heck is that guy doing?_ she thought.

“Quatre!” Trowa called, walking ahead of Remilia. The girl followed suit, with Heero simply coming last.

Remilia stopped at the edge of the flower field, with Heero not too far behind, as Trowa walked towards Quatre.

The latter broke out of his dream-like state and slowly stood up (while being gentle with the Fairy Pokémon) the look of joy and relief shadowing his face. “Trowa! Oh, thank goodness you’re alright! Where’s Heero, Duo and Wufei? Are they with you?”

“Heero’s right behind me!” Remilia called, directing her thumb towards the other boy. “Those Duo or Wufei guys, I have no idea.” _Much less I know who the heck they are or what they look like..._

♫♩*~Apartments - Kirby’s Epic Yarn~*♫♩

  
  


Quatre and Trowa walked through the flowers towards her. “At the very least, I’m relieved to see that Trowa and Heero are all right. What’s your name, by the way?”

“Remilia. And you must be... Quatre, right?”

“Yes. Quatre Raberba Winner.”

“Pretty nice full name.”

“Thank you. I think yours is beautiful as well.”

“Thanks! My dad named me after one of his favorite video game characters. Well, actually, I wouldn’t say favorite, but he thought it was a pretty cool name regardless.”

“Really? I think that’s kind of cool-sounding.”

“Now that we’ve found Quatre, we should also look for Duo and Wufei next,” Heero spoke up. “They could be somewhere on this island.”

“Wouldn’t matter if we tried to look,” Remilia replied. “Melemele island’s small among the rest of the islands, with two of the smallest being Poni and Exeggutor Island.”

There was only a second of silence amongst the three boys. “Exeggutor Island?” Quatre became the first to say.

“Yeah, Exeggutor Island. It’s only open for trial-goers or those who have gone through the island challenge, though.”

“Island challenge?” Quatre said.

“Trial-goers?” Heero followed suit.

“Oh, I can tell you as much as I could about it while we’re looking for your friends, but not in a place like this.”

“Understandable. Let’s go.”

“Yup! Let’s go!”

The now four teenagers exited out of Melemele Meadow a short time later. Remilia reached into her messenger bag to get out her ride pager once again, but pressed a button next to the tiny pictograph of a bull, said pictograph brightening up. The special Poké Ball briefly glowed a bright blue. Remilia removed the ball and it opened up, releasing a bright bluish-white light taking form of a Tauros with a uniquely designed saddle and handlebars. This surprised Quatre, Trowa and Heero (sort of for the latter two; their expressions were rather slight), but Remilia interpreted it as having never seen one before, which makes her wonder if they’ve ever seen a Bouffalant, since Bouffalant are native to Unova. She repeated the process once more, this time with a Mudsdale.

“There!” she says as she puts her ride pager away. “Hopefully this solves everything.”

She then approached the ride Tauros and hoisted herself upon it. “Anybody wanna join me? A couple of you might wanna ride Mudsdale, though.”

The three pilots looked at each other, deciding who should ride with Remilia and which two people would ride on the Mudsdale.

“I guess I should ride with her,” Heero said as he approached the Tauros and propped himself up.

“We’ll take the... Mudsdale, then,” said Trowa as he climbed onto the saddle on its back. Quatre followed along, but Trowa had to help him up because the equine Pokémon was taller than the Sandrock pilot had expected. Taller than the horses he’s seen back in their world, even.

“Alright,” said Remilia as she turned the Tauros around in the opposite direction. “The bridge ahead can’t support both of the Pokémon’s weight, let alone Mudsdale’s _actual_ weight, and using it on public routes in outlawed, so we’ll have to ride to Big Wave Beach. It’s right behind the motel on Route 2.”

“Big Wave Beach?” Quatre asked.

Remilia smirked at the blonde boy. “You’ll see. Now onward.”

Seemingly on command, both Tauros and Mudsale lightly trotted away towards the barren rocky cliff wilderness that is Route 3. As nice as this is, the Gundam pilots are dreading of what might be to come, and the sunny, clean atmosphere is not helping them one little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those little breaks you've seen while reading this? The ones with the music notes? They're actually music inserts. I've got the idea from my English teacher back in high school. I've also made a whole playlist of the inserts on my computer to listen to. If any of you want the inserts, please PM me, so I can send the playlist to you through email.


	2. Black Spots (part 1)

♫♩*No BGM*♫♩

Long enough, the four teens reached the motel, where Remilia says is where Big Wave Beach is. They hopped off their ride Pokémon and Remilia summoned each of them back into their ball, one at a time. The travel from Melemele meadow to the motel took nearly two hours; Remilia knew how exhausting it would be for Tauros and Mudsdale, albeit somewhat less so for the latter ride Pokémon. (And probably how boring it might be for Heero, Trowa and Quatre, since it’s a two-hour ride; although they didn’t seem to be showing it, at least to her.)

“We’ll take the rest of the way by foot,” Remilia said. “Gives the ride Pokémon plenty of time to rest, anyway.”

“Why take all of us to Big Wave Beach?” Heero inquired. “Is there a ferry station there?”

“Um, no, the ferry station’s in Hau’oli City,” Remilia replied, having told them during their trek that Alola does have a ferry station per island, including Poni Island with the exception of Exeggutor Island, largely because it’s uninhabited. “If we went all the way there, it would be taking up all of Tauros and Mudsdale’s energy. And besides, you’d have to order a ticket to take the ferry from one island to the next. Big Wave Beach is a lot easier because you get to surf on a Mantine to go from island to island.”

“Surfing on a Mantine,” said Trowa thoughtfully and slowly.

“To go from island to island,” said Quatre in the same tone as Trowa’s, but at a normal pace.

“Yup! It’s pretty cool the more you think about it. Although the sport and I are not best friends. I would prefer riding a Sharpedo.”

“Riding a Sharpedo?” Quatre asked.

“I’ll talk some more about that on the way. For now, let’s get going.”

Remilia immediately set off to the route that turns right towards Big Wave Beach, with the three pilots following. Amongst themselves, they begin talking.

“I was probably right about each of us landing in the same dimension as each other,” Quatre started.

“Still, we need to hide our real identities as Gundam pilots,” Trowa replied.

“But we’re in a different dimension now, so I don’t see why…”

“Quatre, we’ve talked about this before. Remilia wouldn’t believe us if we told her, so we need to play along with the fact that we’re university students from a region called Unova and sightseeing in Alola. We’ll still keep the truth of us being separated from the others out in the open.”

Quatre swallowed. “I fully understand, Trowa, but--”

“Well, if you do understand, then keep your mouth closed,” said Heero a little rudely. “Simple as that.”

“That’s not what I meant. Wufei, he can readily understand, I think, and so will Duo. But he hates lying so--”

“If he lets even one bit of the truth slip out, I’ll yank on his braid. I can even coerce him into lying to cover it up.”

Quatre stared at Heero, his piercing blue eyes staring straight into his that are concern-ridden. He saw in them that Heero was actually being serious about this (he also berating himself for not knowing better due to Heero’s cold stubbornness). So, he swallowed and nodded. “All right, let’s just play along with this.”

“Okay,” Trowa spoke up. “Let’s go. We don’t want to lag behind Remilia.”

“Right,” Heero and Quatre complied.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*At Big Wave Beach*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Big Wave Beach - Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon~*♫♩

  
  


“Here we are fellas, Big Wave Beach!” Remilia announced as soon as she and the others have arrived.

Heero, Trowa, and Quatre looked at the new scenery in amazement. There are several beach goers--some fully clothed, others wearing swimsuits--walking around, chatting their own conversations to each other. As they followed Remilia deeper in, there were two manta ray-like creatures floating on the water’s surface, wearing somewhat similar ride gear as Flygon, Tauros and Mudsdale. 

“See, there’s a couple Mantine there,” said Remilia as she ran towards the two ray-like creatures known as Mantine.

The three boys followed suit, stopping in the same place as the Trainer. They observed that these Mantine are a tad smaller than the manta rays back home, but they’re still pretty big.

“Pretty cool-looking wouldn’t you say?” Remilia turned back at them, smiling.

“Um, y-yeah, they are,” Quatre replied. “But there’s only two of them, so how are we going to get to the next island if there’s four of us?”

“Well, like I said, I’m kind of terrible at Mantine surfing,” said Remilia. “So

I’m out. The two of you will have to do it.”

There was a brief moment of silence. “I’m afraid I might want to pass, I’m sorry,” Quatre said sheepishly.

“Eh, nothin’ wrong with that,” said Remilia assuringly. “We can always use Flygon.”

“I guess Trowa and I will have to go, then,” said Heero.

“They’re all yours, Heero, Trowa,” Remilia gestured them to the two Mantine.

“Um, this might sound like a silly question,” said Quatre. “But it wouldn’t hurt the Mantine in some way, right?”

“Nope, no way,” said Remilia. “Mantine are pretty friendly Pokémon, so they wouldn’t care if you ride on them. Well, not unless you’re massively obese or something, then that could pose a problem.”

The blonde boy burst out laughing at Remilia’s statement. “Alright, then, we-we’ll use Flygon.”

“Sweet! Heero! Trowa! We’ll meet you in Heahea beach! That’s where this surf route leads to!”

“This beach--er, surf route--leads to Heahea City?” Trowa asked.

“Yeah, Heahea City on Akala Island. Oh, yeah!”

Remilia reached into her messenger bag once again and pulled out a fairly large red object with a pair of lightning bolt-shaped arms, small feet and a single long point at the center of the top. She tapped it twice with the knuckle of her index finger and the previously white screen came to life. An electronic voice sounded from the back speaker, as if it was moaning.

With a sigh of what sounded like relief, the object floated and let out a couple coughs. “Ugh, it feelz good to be out of that cursed bag of yourzzz after you shoved me into it!”

“I had to because Flygon perked its head up to something,” Remilia replied a little rudely. 

“‘Something, zzt?” the object replied before turning its attention to Quatre, Trowa, and Heero. “Ohhhh thozze somethingz!”

The object hovered towards the three teens. “Well, howdy doodly-doo! Rotom ‘Dex at your service! Zzzt! Zo, you guyzzz from Alola?”

“We’re not, actually,” replied Trowa as he and the other two are slowly adjusting to what is before them right now. “We’re from Unova University.”

“Unova?” Rotom replied. “You guyz are from abroad zt?”

“You could say that,” Heero replied, trying to sound as-matter-of-factly.

“Okay, that aside,” Remilia intervened. “I pulled Rotom out so he and I, along with Quatre here, to record your Mantine surfing and maybe do some color commentary.”

“Provided by yourzzz truly!”

“Zip it, Rotom!”

Trowa raised a brow. “I’m sorry, ‘he?’”

Remilia blinked. “...I call him a he. Anyway, I’ll be muting Rotom the entire time--he’s pretty mouthy, by the way--so he wouldn’t be such a spoiler.”

“The entire time?!” Rotom asked in shock.

Remilia grabbed Rotom’s point. “I’m muting you whether you like it or not!”

“You can’t juzzt go and mute--!”

The pink-haired girl reached around the back of Rotom’s body and turned the volume knob down to zero, ignoring the latter’s mouthing rant (she cannot read lips) about her forcefully keeping it quiet.

“Okay, then,” she then said, bringing her hands together. “Shall we get going?”

“Yeah,” said Quatre, Trowa saying the same thing while Heero simply lets out a small grunt.

“All right!” Remilia reached into her messenger bag again, takes out her ride pager, and pressed a button with the Flygon text next to it, summoning it to the ball and out of it. She then climbed up on it with Quatre following her, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing his hands on her stomach. “For you boys, it’s surfin’ ‘Tine!”

Trowa and Heero carefully stepped on the two Mantine, having ignored the pun Remilia just made, kneeling down and grabbing the handles. As if on some silent command, the Mantine swam from the beachline towards the ocean. Remilia commanded Flygon to follow them as she pressed the camera app on Rotom’s screen (who apparently is still protesting about being forcefully muted--not that Remilia would care) to start recording. Once the two pilots are far away enough, Trowa became the first to carefully stand up. Heero came after, trying to balance himself on the Mantine’s back.

  
  


♫♩*~Mantine Surf - Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon~*♫♩

  
  


Remilia pressed the record button as soon as Flygon is high enough in the air. “Here we are, everybody, live in the air with Flygon and a very special guest. Quatre, say hi.”

“...Hello,” Quatre did as he was told, smiling politely.

“We’re here today to see some surf action going on here, with Trowa Barton and Heero Yuy, both university students hailing all the way from Unova. They’re gonna try their hand at Mantine surfing. Hopefully, they’re loads better than me, I can hardly wait to see. Ooh, here comes the first wave! What will those two guys do? I don’t think I’m the only one who’s excited!”

“Me neither,” Quatre replied. “I’ve never seen Mantine surfing all my life, so this should be interesting.”  _ And I’m hoping to God they don’t drown; it is they’re first time doing such a thing as this, let alone  _ actual _ surfing. _

As stated by Remilia, a large wave is coming towards Heero and Trowa from their right. They nearly fell off their Mantine when they suddenly moved towards it, increasing their speed a little. They went up the base of the wave, but traveled down again with the same speed as before. Both readily understood this, and decided to move along with the Mantine whichever direction it was moving towards. It’s almost as if the Mantine understood that this is their first time doing it.

The two Mantine moved towards the wave again, speed increasing a little more, but this time Trowa and Heero synched themselves more properly. After getting a little more height, the Mantine plunged down again to the base. Instead of waiting, the two pilots twist and bend their upper torsos to command the Mantine to move towards the wave, their speed ever increasing. As the wave decreased in height, Trowa became the first to speed up and lift himself and the Mantine up in the air, grabbing the handles and handstanding on them, legs straight and knees slightly bent even as the Mantine hit the surface of the water, little droplets falling on him like a light rain.

“Holy shit, that’s amazing!” Remilia exclaimed excitedly as Trowa quickly but carefully went back to the same position as earlier. “I’ve never seen someone do a trick like that!”

“Trowa works for the circus in his spare time,” Quatre explained. “To think that he would employ his circus stunts in the form of surfing; it’s actually pretty amazing.”

“Now, how will Heero Yuy, on the other hand, top this?”

Back on the ocean, Heero observed Trowa’s trick on the low wave as the wave itself increased its height again, also noticing that Trowa’s farther away from him now. He slaloms the Mantine to get a speed increase, and at the lip of the wave, immediately grabs the handles and kneels as soon as he’s up in the air. He pulls at one handle and pushes down at the other to make the Mantine roll twice before hitting the surface. He immediately gets himself back up with the same speed, rides up the wave while it was still high, and the Mantine jumps up higher in the air. He makes a steering motion as if turning a wheel, and the Mantine turns along with his motions, spinning twice before landing on the surface once again.

“Heero just went and done a Starmie 720, guys!” Remilia said excitedly, very nearly screeching. “This is getting good! Your thoughts Quatre?”

“I agree,” Quatre replied. “Way more impressive than Trowa’s handstand, even!”

The banter between Remilia and Quatre--combined with the cool tricks Trowa and Heero are pulling off despite their inexperience--continued for a few more minutes before finally reaching the beach of the next island of their destination: Akala Island’s Heahea Beach.

  
  


♫♩*~Heahea City - Pokémon Sun and Moon~*♫♩

  
  


Heero and Trowa got off their respective Mantine while Flygon landed next to them with Remilia and Quatre climbing off and calling Flygon back into its ball. Like with Big Wave Beach, it does have beachgoers, only slightly fewer in numbers. Quatre made this observation apparent to Remilia, in which she replied:

“In this time of day, it’s to be expected. It tends to get crowded in the afternoon and twilight.”

She lead them from the beach towards Heahea city, which is a rather long walk from the beach taking nearly up to twenty minutes. Trowa, Heero and Quatre stared at how big the city is. They might admit (but not out loud), the cityscapes are more beautiful and breathtaking than the cities up in their colonies. For something of the past (not like the skyscrapers have changed much in the past 200+ years, anyway), the architecture in this city is very impressive.

“Amazed?” Remilia said amusingly, after looking at what they’re observing around them. “Yeah, I pretty much was too, when I first came to Alola; I had the exact same reaction as you guys when I arrived here with a couple friends of mine and Hau’oli city.”

“Wait, so you weren’t born in Alola?” Quatre asked.

“No. My mom and I moved from Kanto to Melemele just a few months ago. So, I’ve grown to call this region my home.”

“And you became a Pokémon Trainer here?”

“Uh-huh. Just a couple months after I turned fourteen. That’s actually the age when a person becomes a Trainer.”

“In this region, or other regions?” Trowa asked.

“Well…” Remilia bites her lower lip and rolled her eyes up towards the sky. “It actually varies from region to region. In the case of Alola, it’s fourteen; in Kanto, it’s eleven, Unova sixteen, Johto twelve or thirteen; Hoenn the same thing. I don’t know about Sinnoh, and I think Kalos has the same age requirement as Alola…”

“Every region in the world has a differing age where you become a Pokémon Trainer?” Heero asks.

“Yeah, but the kids that come of age can opt out if they want to,” Remilia replied. “Some people don’t become Trainers, ever.”

“Hello to you, Remilia!” a familiar voice said.

The four teens turned to the direction of a young girl with short blue hair and eyes of the same color wearing a white sailor shirt with blue baggy pants, a navy blue swimsuit underneath and black flip-flops and appears to be Remilia’s age waving towards them in front of a building with a red roof. Beside her is a large blue-and-white serpentine dragon, which took the Gundam pilots by surprise.

The pink-haired Trainer waved back. “Hi, Lana!”

She jogged towards the blue-haired girl named Lana. “How’s it going with you?”

“I’m doing alright,” Lana replied politely. “Who are those fellows?”

“Oh, those three? They’re Quatre, Trowa and Heero. They hail straight from Unova and they’re university students.” Remilia turned towards the three boys. “This is Lana; she’s a Water-type trial captain.”

“Hello,” said Quatre politely.

“Hello,” Trowa said next.

“Hey,” Heero said monotonously.

“Greetings,” Lana returned. 

“I was just giving those guys a tour of Alola,” Remilia explained.

_ “Tour” might be a tad inaccurate,  _ Heero thought.

“I see. Welcome to Alola, friends. I hope you enjoy your stay here.”

“Thank you,” said Quatre. “Alola is very nice, so I can understand why it seems to be popular with tourists across the globe.”

“Well, actually, Kalos seems to be popular with tourists right now, but Alola’s a little popular regardless,” said Remilia. “At least that’s what I’ve read. So, Lana. Watcha doin’?”

“Oh, I was doing some grocery shopping,” Lana replied, subtly pointing towards the tote bags being held by the blue limbless dragon by the tail, only blocked by the two blue orbs that are a little close to the tip of it. “I only stopped at the Pokémon Center for a snack at the café.”

“That building with the red roof is actually a Pokémon Center?” said Quatre under his breath, careful not to let Remilia hear.

“I see,” Remilia replied. “Oh, Lana! Would it be alright with you if you give me and the boys a ride to Lush Jungle on your Dragonair?”

_ That’s what that thing is called, a Dragonair? _ Trowa thought.

“Actually, let me put it this way,” Remilia continued. “Quatre and I will ride with you on Dragonair while Heero and Trowa rides on Flygon.”

The blue-haired girl gave an amused smirk. “You really want them to see all of Alola, don’t you?”

“Mmmm, maybe. I also want to see if Mallow is there as well, to ask her what herbs she has to recommend for cooking. She’s normally there at this time of day and day of the week, right?”

“Well, I couldn’t guarantee that she might be there, but I don’t see why not.”

“Cool! Thanks, Lana!”

Lana then climbs on top of the Dragonair and pats the padded saddle, indicating that Heero and Trowa can now come on board. The two said nothing as they walked towards the serpent and climbed on, with Trowa in the middle and Heero in the back as he placed his hands on Trowa’s slightly muscled stomach and Trowa’s around Lana (which he notes is smaller than Remilia, making him wonder if she and Lana are really the same age). Meanwhile, Remilia takes out her ride pager again and summons Flygon from the Poké Ball. Remilia and Quatre climb up Flygon in the same position as before they left Big Wave Beach.

“You all ready to go?” Remilia asks everyone.

“Yes, we all are,” replied Lana.

“Great! To Lush Jungle we go!”

♫♩*No BGM*♫♩

With those words, Flygon flapped its wings strongly while Dragonair expanded the wings on its head and flapped them once as it started to slither towards the air, Flygon following shortly. Both Trowa and Heero made small comments on how odd it is that a serpentine dragon with wings only on its head and fly smoothly, but they were more put off-guard by the fact that the Dragonair’s wings went from small to big in the matter of several seconds.

“There is absolutely no way that a creature’s wings such as this can get to that size in a short time,” Heero had commented under his breath, taking care to not be heard by no one else but Trowa. “Especially in order to fly.”

“All of the science behind this world is quite strange,” Trowa had replied in agreement.

Awhile, on Flygon, Quatre took the time to look down below the ride Pokémon, as he never fully got the chance to look at the sights below him while he and Remilia were commentating on Heero and Trowa’s Mantine surf skills. Nearly everything below them is a fresh, beautiful green, with a few wild Pokémon that can be visibly seen roaming here and there, as well as a few people walking about. Everything about this world is as beautiful as his and the other pilots’ home dimension. Quatre would simply marvel at it forever.

Speaking of dimensions, Quatre still feels a little uneasy about keeping his and the others’ identities as Gundam pilots a secret. Granted, he understands fully that it’s protocol they must follow at all times, but suppose Remilia finds out one way or another? Would she even believe them? She would have to, because Remilia seems to be a very nice girl who’s more than willing to help them, possibly even help them find their respective Gundams so that they could get themselves back home, right? Then again, they have no idea where their Gundams might be, and neither would Remilia, even she does believe that they are Gundam pilots. Well, not unless she has some sort of master plan to get all of their Gundams, but really, what are the odds of that?

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a distant scream. He looked around briefly before asking Remilia, “Did you hear a scream just now?”

“Huh?” Remilia responded as she turned her head so her eyes could face Quatre. “Oh, uh, I don’t remember hearing it.

The pink-haired Trainer then turned her head back to its position and asked, “Did you guys hear a scream just now?”

Trowa turned his head back after hearing the inquiry. “I don’t think I did.”

“Neither did I,” Lana coined in.

But unbeknownst to them, Heero most definitely did, even though he never said anything, nor even if he didn’t hear Remilia’s question.  _ I actually did hear it,  _ he thought.  _ But… that scream sounded too hellish to be human. Unless… _

“How much longer it might take to get to Lush Jungle?” he finally spoke.

“Well, we took off around ten minutes ago,” Lana replied. “So, it might take us twenty or twenty-five minutes tops.”

Heero said nothing after Lana made that statement. It takes thirty minutes to get from Heahea City to Lush Jungle. If the person who made that hellish scream could be there, and is who he thinks it might be...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, the chapter title provides a little bit of foreshadowing. ;)


	3. Black Spots (part 2)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Hour Earlier, Lush Jungle*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Lush Jungle/Verdant Cavern - Pokémon Sun and Moon~*♫♩

  
  


Deep within Lush Jungle, there is another teenage boy struggling against the vines. The vines weren’t barricading him, per say, but he’s actually entangled in them. It seems to be that the more he struggles, the more he gets entangled in those vines. Clearly getting irritated by the second, he reaches for a combat knife in one of his pockets, intending to cut the vines off of him. It seems to actually work after several of them had been cut off from his wrists, arms, legs and ankles, but he had failed to account for the distance between the ground and how high he was in the vines; and when he cut the last vine off of him, the boy shrieked as he fell to the ground, making a loud thud, even with the tree roots softened by the moderately thick moss growing all over them.

Groaning in pain and shouting the expletive “Jesus!”, Duo Maxwell slowly got back up on his feet and dusted himself off, wincing a little at whatever joints he might have hurt after the fall. It’s just a few cuts and bruises, especially a strange black dot just near his wrist (which he had discovered just now, but shrugged it off as nothing), but he’ll survive. 

Duo then scratched his neck, taking note of how tattered his long braid is after getting entangled in the vines. He thinks he might have been unconscious the entire time, but doesn’t know how long. He also wonders where the others and his Gundam Deathscythe Hell might be. What’s just as important, how in the heck is he going to get out this thick jungle. He tried checking his smartphone by finding out where his location is, but not even it was able to find it, as indicated by a blank screen with the gray text in the center of it: “Unable to find location. Please check your connection and try again.” A little frustrated, Duo put his phone back in his other pocket. He then officially decided the only way to possibly get out of this stupid jungle is by walking.

Duo decides to start walking towards the direction he was previously facing. He dreads that he might be going the wrong way, but he has to start somewhere, right? And if, by one way or another, the other guys would find him with their Gundams, he would just wave his arms and say he’s down here. Granted, he doesn’t even know where his Gundam is--or where the others’ Gundams are, for that matter--but he’s got to be at least optimistic in the situation he’s in, right? It’s just the way he is, there’s really no helping it.

  
  


♫♩*~Calm Before the Storm - Final Fantasy X HD Remaster~*♫♩

After approximately between forty minutes to an hour of walking, Duo starts seeing something in the distance. He knitted is brown brows together to get a better image. Is that… a lake? In the middle of a jungle? Or is it actually a spring? At least, either way, this is a nice change of pace from all the boring green and wood the Deathscythe pilot as been wandering in the entire time he’s been walking (and largely because his legs and feet were starting to ache even from maneuvering himself around the low-hanging tree branches and gnarled roots and bare-to-moss-covered rocks).

Duo then resumed his walk towards the lake, which is getting bigger the closer he gets. Maybe could get some fresh water from it, or probably take a dip in it, assuming that the water is clean (not that he expects it to be filtered, of course).

When he finally arrived there, Duo was taken aback at how beautiful and wondrous this new area is. If not being on his mission along with his pals to save Earth from the tyranny known as OZ (and White Fang, not that he would care bout that stupid wannabe resistance anyway, in retrospect), he would have taken a break and do a little sightseeing around wonderful places such as this. There are bright colorful flowers draping and lying on the surface of the water, greens such as moss lining the rocks and the leaves dipping themselves slightly underneath the surface. There’s also a thin river that seems connected to this lake. The whole scenery looks like it comes from a fantasy novel, though Duo’s not about to complain. 

He then proceeds to undress himself, then undid his braid and pulled his fingers through it, trying to get rid of the tangles, leaves and small twigs he sustained from his unpleasant time being tangled in the vines. He spreads his hair out after the task had been done, looking like a dark caramel waterfall ending at his thighs.

Duo submerges himself into the water as soon as he gets in, vision blurred, swimming deeper underneath the surface. He stopped at that distance, but continued swimming, only to stop at a small group consisting of several peculiar-looking fish. Said fish appear to be white with gray and blue scales, and big, bulbous eyes with what looks like wonked-up light blue X’s which Duo assumes to be their irises. 

Already feeling the need for more air, Duo swims back up to the surface, splashing up while gasping for more oxygen in his lungs. Panting while wiping his wet face with his already wet hand, he turned around to the point where he swam from. The lake is bigger than he thought, which might mean that he went quite a distance. He then floated on his back, closing his indigo eyes to shield them from the bright tropical sunlight. It felt too long since he felt paradise like this, at least not since he had stayed with Quatre and the Maganacs in the desert during their time on Earth.

Duo then got off of this back, took a deep breath and dived down again. As he swam a little deeper, he came across a strange-looking pink object that looks like… coral? He doesn’t remember if tropical lakes have corals, but it’s still a strange sight regardless. 

The coral-like object suddenly turned around and looked at Duo with its beady black eyes (and a mouth?!), startling him, but it took all of his might not to lose the breath he was holding. The pink coral creature looked at him quizzically, but Duo’s still freaked out. 

The long-haired pilot slowly reached his finger towards the coral creature, aiming for its… head, and poked at one of the spike branches. It even feels like actual coral! Though the coral creature purred a little at the touch, Duo quickly drew back his finger, becoming increasingly uncomfortable (not helped by the fact that he’s running out of air yet again). He swam up to the surface, gasping for air, swam to the nearest moss-covered rock, and sat on it, the moss being squished like a sponge from the touch of the bare skin of his bottom. He took several more breaths to calm his beating heart and to relieve himself of the stress of being surprised by the cartoony-faced coral creature.

“Well, that settles it,” Duo said out loud. “I’m in a different dimension, and I have zero fucking idea where the others or our Gundams might be.” He moved his feet under the water, creating nonsense patterns as he thought. “At least the whole scenery is nice.” He then let out a snicker as the thought about spreading his legs and stroking the tip of his penis teasingly to signal his presence to the other pilots while in their Gundams crossed his mind. He could already imagine their faces if they saw him doing that; Heero and Trowa looking irritated while wondering what the heck he’s doing, Quatre blushing like a strawberry and Wufei looking like he would strangle him with his bare hands. Now that would be something!

Having calmed himself down after that amusing naughty thought, Duo went back into the water, but deciding to stay afloat, learning from his past two experiences about the strange oddities underwater. Using his feet to push himself away from the rock he was sitting on, he starts swimming towards the centerpoint of the lake where he previously was, only to notice a tanned girl with green hair tied into low pigtails, wearing gray short overalls over her pink tank top and what looks like green converse shoes beginning to undress herself. Duo immediately dived back down, pretending to be swimming deep under the water again (well, not pretending, actually, but looking for something that is _not_ alive and does _not_ have cartoony faces) looking for some small treasures. Awhile, something glimmering caught his eye, even though his vision was blurred by the water. He swam towards the object and picks it up with his thumb and index finger. The object he just picked up looked like it was shining in a few colors. Turning it around twice, Duo thinks he’s found a unique treasure and swims back up to the surface, gasping only once.

“Going for a swim, too?”

Duo turned around fast to where that voice is coming from, indigo eyes widening. It’s the same tanned, green-haired, green-eyed girl he accidentally saw undressing earlier. Well, okay, deep down, Duo knew that he was going to get noticed sooner or later, but why did it have to be now of all times?

“Hey, it’s okay,” the girl said assuringly (okay, actually not, from Duo’s perspective). “It’s not really my swimming hole, or anybody else’s for that matter, even though I’m the only person on this island that goes into it from time to time.”

“U-um, I…” Duo only stammered out, forcing himself to relax. That girl genuinely does not know that he’s a guy that happens to have long flowing thigh-length hair, but that doesn’t mean that she’s going to call him a pervert just for being here before her. Then again, it’s not like she knows he got to this place first...

“Hey, come on,” said the girl as she paddled closer to him. “It’s just us girls skinny-dipping together, so there’s no harm in that, right?”

That’s it, he’s going to tell her. “Um, I hate to burst your happy little bubble, but I’m actually a guy.”

The girl simply just gawked at him.

“That happens to have long hair,” Duo finished.

The expression on the girl’s face changed from surprise to blushing anger, and punches him in the face without warning.

“Owwww!” Duo exclaimed as rubbed his cheek where the girl punched him. “What the hell was that for?!”

♫♩*~Two For a Distance (I) - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

“That was for looking at me while I was undressing, you pervert!” the girl shouted back.

“Ugh, so I only saw a little bit, but I dived down immediately! And who the fuck said anything about being a pervert?!”

“Uh, you’re a naked guy who’s with me, a naked girl!”

“It’s not like I wanted to look at you, jackass!”

“What the hell did you just call me?!”

“Ya heard me right! Jackass!”

“You’re the one who’s being a jackass for watching me undress, pervert!”

“It’s not like I wanted to! I was just gracious enough to dive down and look for somethin’, ya spoiled little daddy’s girl!”

“I’m more than certain you were watching me undress on purpose, you Harley-Davidson/Nickelback groupie!”

“Just what the hell makes you think it was on purpose, Little Miss Mall-shoppin’ Pigtail-wearin’ _Twilight_ -readin’ Justin Bieber-listenin’ Boyfriend-cravin’ bratty-ass spoiled whiny little runt?!”

The girl said nothing, lips shut tight, eyes wide, but still looking angry with a small hint of being insulted.

“Nothin’ ta say now, huh?” Duo said half-smugly as he swam away to the edge of the lake before he started his swim, now less than willing to put up with this immature teen girl he just had an argument with. 

Upon reaching there, Duo climbed out of the water and sat on his knees, not even thinking once of looking back at the girl. He turned slightly, his vision fixed on a gnarled root as he took his long hair with both of his hands and twisted out the excess water. Once he’s done, he then proceeds to dress himself again. Awhile, his mind went back to the other Gundam pilots. Since he got transported here by a bluish-white light, then that would mean the other pilots might have been transported the same way, right? If this is the case, then the other pilots must be in the same dimension as he is, just possibly in different places other than this jungle. Since the GPS on his smartphone is obviously ineffective, he would have to search by foot and rely on sight for location. If only he knew where the other pilots exactly are, then he would have little to no problem finding them.

Just as he was about to braid is wet hair, he felt a sudden tug at it. His temper immediately rose again and swiftly took out his handgun hidden within his uniform top. “Nobody touches my fucking hair!” he shouted.

He turned around swiftly and the blood suddenly disappeared from his face. The culprit was none other than a gigantic, violet cobra with piercing black eyes with an evil red-and-black face pattern at its hood.

Duo dropped his gun to the ground and immediately screamed bloody murder, loud enough for any birds resting nearby to fly off, and ran away as soon as he got onto his feet.

♫♩*~Moment of History - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

  
  


He ran back into the direction where he was walking from, almost tripping over gnarled jungle tree roots and potentially rocky surfaces. Why the hell did that giant cobra creature have to be here now of all times?! Having a phobia of snakes or snake-like creatures like that totally did not help matters in the slightest.

After nearly ten minutes of running, Duo tripped over a root that he didn’t see and landed face first into what feels like a raw melon gourd. He quickly gets up on his knees the gourd falling off from his face, and is unfortunately covered in the gourd’s juice and a little bit of its flesh. He coughed a few times before wiping it off with his hand. “Gross,” he muttered grudgingly. 

He then looked at the hand he wiped his face with, which is now covered in the juice and flesh. Looks light lime green, almost like a honeydew melon back home. He wondered if it tastes like honeydew, so he licked a bit of the flesh off of his palm. It’s not as sweet as honeydew, but it’s otherwise not bad. 

Duo suddenly jumped up to his feet with a gasp as he heard a loud, high-pitched roar coming from above and behind him. He turned around fast and saw what appears to be an oddly-colored lemur wearing the same gourd Duo faceplanted into like a helmet (which he thought looks silly). Soon, several more of the lemurs appeared, making the same calls as the lemur that first appeared, and all of them bared their sharp fangs at them as they make their calls and snarls. From Duo’s standpoint, they look pretty angry.

“Awww crap,” Duo said dreadingly.

  
  


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*On the Outskirts of Route 5*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  
  


♫♩*~A Moment With You - 2nd Super Robot Wars OG~*♫♩

  
  


Both Flygon and Dragonair landed a couple dozen yards from where Lush Jungle is, as indicated by Lana, who also mentioned that the entrance is flanked by a pair of trial gates. Quatre and Remilia hopped off of Flygon and the latter summoned it back into its ball as Heero and Trowa did the same, with Lana only staying on Dragonair.

“Thanks again, Lana,” said Remilia.

“Don’t mention it,” replied Lana. “I must get going now, as I don’t have any

plans to meet up with Mallow at the moment, even if she actually is in Lush Jungle.”

“I’ll be seeing you next time, Lana! Maybe I can come by sometime and watch your latest trial with a youngling Trainer!”

“As long as you don’t do any teasing.”

“Hey, tell that to Rotom!”

Both girls shared a laugh as Remilia made that statement. (Although according to her, this is mostly true.)

“I’ll be seeing you Remilia.” 

The ride Dragonair enlarged its head-wings again and slithered into the air, disappearing into the sky along with Lana as it twirled and waved towards the clouds. 

“Lana’s a very nice girl,” Quatre commented.

“You’re definitely right on that,” Remilia replied. “Even though she does tell strange stories. Once after I did my Water-type trial, she made a tall tale about reeling in a red Gyarados.”

“Did she, actually?” asked Heero.

“I would guess she didn’t,” Remilia shrugged.

“A red Gyarados does sound pretty scary, though” Quatre commented.

“Yeah, and most Gyarados are aggressive enough as it is. If a Trainer manages to tame one, then more power to them, I guess.”

“At any rate,” Trowa spoke. “I think we should resume our search. Maybe Duo and Wufei are on this island.”

“Hey, hey, we haven’t forgotten. I’ll be in the lead as usual.”

With a wink and a cute smile, Remilia skipped twice before going off, with the other three following.

“This is actually getting more interesting by the second,” said Quatre. “We’re in another dimension, yet it feels a lot intriguingly like we’re still on Earth, even if it is 200+ years in the past.”

“I would have to agree,” Trowa replied. “The people, environments, ecosystems, they’re largely the same, the only thing that’s possibly drastically different are the animal creatures that live here. They’re nothing like the animals back home.”

“Yet at the same time,” Quatre added. “They’re a lot like the animals in terms of behavior, habitat and the like.”

“You two should be reminded, though,” said Heero, who was slightly ahead of them but not looking at them. “That we’re not here for sightseeing; we get the others, locate our Gundams, and get home.”

“That’s easier said than done, Heero. We’ve travelled to an alternate Earth 200 years into the past, and we have no way of locating our Gundams. They could be in a different dimension or dimensions apart from the one we’re currently in.”

Heero said nothing after the statement the Sandrock pilot made. It’s true. He doesn’t even know where his Gundam is, or where the others’ Gundams are. And with the theory Quatre has of the Gundams being in separate dimensions, and with no way to go between them, it’s likely that they might be stuck here permanently. 

The dark-haired pilot turned his head around to face Quatre, which surprised the latter a little. While he is normally expressionless, Quatre could sense a little bit of guilt emanating from him.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

The blonde pilot converted his surprise to a small smile. “It’s all right,” Quatre replied. “I haven’t really forgotten our objective, but we still need to face the facts, Heero.”

Heero went quiet for a brief moment before turning his head back to the front. “I understand the facts, Quatre.”

None of the pilots said anything to each other for the next fifteen or twenty minutes they and Remilia were on the path to Lush Jungle. The girl exclaimed happily that they’re right at the entrance to the jungle, but her expression suddenly changed from enthused to suspicious curiosity.

Confused, the pilots jogged towards her, only to hear irregular wheezing and gasping. Heero’s particularly the first to hear it, but his sapphire blue eyes widened a little in surprise when the figure before him and the pilots is actually who he thinks this is.

♫♩*No BGM*♫♩

It was Duo Maxwell, hair undone and slightly unkempt with little scratches and cuts on skin and small snags on his uniform, especially his jodhpurs. What in the world could have put him such an exhausted, tattered state? Well, of course, he was in Lush Jungle the entire time, but if Duo simply walked out of there, then he wouldn’t have as many minor injuries on him as he does now. He likely might have ran away from something.

Duo fell to his knees, exhausted. Remilia took a couple steps towards him and asked, “Are you okay?”

“What… What’s it to ya?” Duo said between breaths.

“Well, you look exhausted from all that running, with a bunch of scratches all over you,” the girl replied. “If I don’t know any better, you were probably chased off by something. Passimian, I’m assuming.”

Remilia reaches into her messenger bag, pulls out a water bottle, and offers it to the tousled boy before her. 

Duo eagerly grabs it from her, unscrews the cap, and takes several big gulps--with a little water dribbling down his lower jaw to his shirt--and gasps as he removed the bottle lip from his mouth, wiping it with his hand. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Remilia replied as she put the cap back on the bottle and put it back in her messenger bag.

“Duo, are you sure you’re alright?” Quatre spoke up, concerned.

The Deathscythe pilot swiftly turned his head towards Quatre, and his indigo eyes lit up immediately when he saw his friend, as well as Trowa and Heero. “Oh my God, Quatre!” He ran towards him and encased him in a bear hug. “I’m so freakin’ glad you’re alright!”

Quatre, while appreciating the gesture, tries to struggle free from the tight hug. “S-so am I, as well as Trowa and Heero, but I need some air. P-please.”

“Oh.” Duo lets go of him instantly, blushing slightly. “Sorry. It’s just that I was worried about you guys.”

“Hug me, and I’ll kill you,” said Heero in his usual emotionless demeanor.

“Oh, come on, Heero, Trowa wouldn’t object to my hugs, right, Trowa?”

The taller green-eyed teen said nothing, but directed his eyes somewhere else.

“So, your name is actually Duo?” Remilia asked behind them.

The long-haired boy turned around towards her, light brown locks swishing in his movement, flashing a smile at her. “Yup, that’s me. Duo Maxwell. I run and I hide, but I never tell a lie. That’s me in a nutshell. What’s your name, kid?”

“This is Remilia,” Quatre stepped in. “She’s a Pokémon Trainer, and she’s been helping us navigate around Alola.”

“It’s not really ‘navigating’ that’s important,” Remilia clarified. “You just gotta see the sights while walking around, especially during the island challenge! Well, not that you’re on it, anyway, since you’re a uni student like them, really.”

“Island challenge? Uni?” Duo asked.

Quatre placed his hand on his shoulder. “Um, Remilia, could you please excuse me and Duo for a minute?”

“Oh, sure, I don’t mind,” Remilia said. “Take your time.”

“Thank you.”

The blonde boy took Duo by the wrist and led him farther away from the group.

Heero approaches Remilia and asks, “You just assumed that Duo was chased out of the jungle by… these Passimian?”

“Hey, it’s just a hunch I came up with,” said Remilia. “They’re pretty territorial when it comes to food. You come up to their territory at this time of day, you see raw gourds of Lum Berries, Sitrus Berries, the like. Then they chase you outta here.”

Heero wondered what this “Sitrus” or “Lum Berries” really are, but didn’t ask what they are out loud. “Then will you plase enlighten us a little bit more on these Passimian?”

“Sure! I would love to.”

Remilia reaches into her bag, only for Rotom to suddenly emerge from it, visibly angered, but not saying anything because he was muted, a fact that Remilia might have forgotten. 

♫♩*~Facing the Wind - Namco x Capcom~*♫♩

She turned the knob on the back of the Pokédex to the normal acceptable volume, but flinched and covered her ears (with Heero doing the same) when Rotom yelled in a screechy electronic voice:

“It’s about darn time you’ve unmuted me! It’zzz really suffocating in there, I tell ya, zzt! Zzzo hard to breathe! ZZZT!”

“You’re just a machine, Rotom!” Remilia retorted, rubbing one of her ears with her pinkie.

“A Pokémon within a machine.”

“Right, a _Pokémon_ in a machine. But whatever the case, you didn’t have much problems being in my bag all the damn time during my island challenge!”

“I was helpful to you on whatever Pokémon you encounter during that time, and for your study times while in bed when you’re not reading or writing slash fanfiction after!”

“Which I actually appreciate, and keep my habits out of this! They’re nobody’s gobdamn business!” She let out a heavy sigh, and changed her tone from enraged to polite, but exhausted from the shouting. “Now, will you please explain to Heero and Trowa what a Passimian is?”

“Coming right up! Zzt!”

Remilia let out another exhale and ran her hand across her pink-brown hair, letting out more the trapped air in her lungs after the brief shouting match with Rotom, muttering out “Jeez” awhile.

“So this Rotom ‘Dex,” said Trowa. “Is not an AI, but an actual living being in a machine?”

“‘Living’ isn’t exactly accurate,” Remilia corrected. “Rotom is a dual Electric/Ghost type, categorizing it as the Plasma Pokémon due to its body made up of electricity. And possibly ectoplasm, or so I’ve heard. Anyway, I’ve heard that Rotom are rare Pokémon that hail from the Sinnoh region, but I might be wrong.”

“I see…”

“Here we go!” Rotom interrupted the two (which Remilia fought against a glare at it, because she, Heero and Trowa were pretty much done talking, anyway). 

The screen changed from a mouth and eyes to an image of a black and white creature with broad shoulders, yellow sclera and red eyes, a bushy tail, and wearing half a melon gourd on its head and holding a similar melon to the ground as if it were a football. Trowa and Heero gathered around the screen as Rotom spoke, in a monotonous, robotic voice:

“Passimian: the Teamwork Pokémon. Fighting-type. They form troops of roughly twenty, and they attack using hard Berries. Together, they undergo intense training, and their bond is mutually strong.”

Heero and Trowa took in the information of Passimian Rotom explained, leaving only Heero to lower his head down slightly into deep thought (he can assume that Trowa is doing the same thing he is). So, there was Dragon-type, Ground-type, Fairy-type, Water-type, Flying-type, even Fighting-type. Just how many of these Pokémon types are there in this world? Well, Remilia did explain that the Fairy-type is only recently discovered--dating around three years ago, first discovered in Kalos and spreading across the world--but that’s hardly the case here. He could only conclude that there might be more to this world than he and the others originally thought, but he’d rather not stay a while longer. From the perspective of everyone else in their world, they were either killed or missing in action, and God knows how long they might be gone if it’s the latter. It could either be a few minutes or possibly just a few years.

“Pretty cool info, huh?” Remilia spoke, stopping Heero’s train of thought.

“I would say that’s interesting,” Trowa replied. “Neither Heero, Duo, Quatre or I ever became Pokémon Trainers, so I think this makes for a little fun learning off the campus grounds.”

“Yeah, kinda beats being stuck in a classroom with a textbook in front of you and listen to a professor or teacher talk all day. Haha.”

“Sorry to keep you all waiting,” Quatre said in the distance as he and Duo (now his hair back into his trademark braid, as done by Quatre himself) approached them. 

Remilia looked up to the two as Heero and Trowa turned around to face them. “Hey, it’s no biggie. We were just passing the time learning about Alola Pokémon, right, guys?”

“Yeah,” Trowa replied.

“...Yes,” Heero said as well.

“Really?” asked Quatre.

“Yup!” Rotom interjected. “All you guys would be nothing if not for me, Rotom! Zzzt!”

“So, who’s the red floating iPad… thing?” Duo asked.

“Who’z that girly-looking boy with a braid?”

Duo immediately grabbed Rotom by its upper corners, squeezing and pulling at it in different directions with his fingers. “Who the fuck’re ya callin’ a girl ya little runt!? Do ya want me to tear you apart with my bare hands?!”

“Th-thiz izz a delicate machine, stop! I’m from Kalozz!”

“Duo, stop!” said Remilia as she grabbed Rotom from behind.

Quatre restrained him by the waist, helping Remilia free the sentient Pokédex from the braided boy’s hands, but the latter teen was still steaming angry from Rotom calling him a girl.

“Why’d you seriously have to call him that, Rotom?” Remilia asked, as if scolding a naughty child.

“Well, he looked like a girl with that long braid of his and thick legs!” Rotom retorted.

“They’re jodhpurs!” Duo yelled.

“Do you even realize how tempted I am to dismantle you, place you in a Poké Ball and put you in Poké Pelago in the Pokémon Center PC?!” Remilia continued.

Rotom flinched at the word “dismantle.” It’s a pretty effective technique to keep it in place whenever it’s acting mouthy or otherwise misbehaving to keep his mouth shut for a while, at least until the time is right.

He fled back inside Remilia’s bag after that threat. The latter then took hold of the gold zipper and closed it up, breathing out a sigh and massaging her forehead after the task had been done.

“Are you alright?” Quatre asked after he let Duo go after he cooled down in a concerned tone.

“I’m fine,” Remilia replied. “I’m really sorry about my Rotom ‘Dex. He can get pretty mouthy sometimes, but this is the first time I’ve heard him say something somewhat rude.”

“It’s not your fault, um… Remilia, right?” said Duo.

“Yeah, it’s Remilia.”

“Sweet name. Anyway, it’s not your fault, Remilia. That Rotom ‘Dex was bein’ a little brat.”

“He pretty much is from time to time.”

The pink-haired Pokémon Trainer looked around for a few seconds, focusing on a dirt path that leads directly from Lush Jungle. She then looked back at her new friends and said, smiling, “Come on! I know somewhere fun and possibly interesting we can go to!”

“Somewhere fun and interesting,” Heero repeated monotonously.

“I think I’m startin’ to like what Remilia’s thinkin’,” Duo said with a smirk.

“We would have to get there by Poké Ride, though,” said Remilia, reaching into her bag searching for her ride pager.

Duo raised a brow. “Poké Ride?”

“It’s a custom here in Alola,” Quatre explained. “Remilia and Lana told us that it replaces the Hidden Machines you would normally find in other regions. It’s actually pretty convenient.”

“Easier on our legs, too,” Remilia added, just before her hand emerged with the ride pager. 

She pressed the Tauros button and summoned it from its ball, summoning Mudsdale the same way. “Mudsdale can easily carry three people at a time, so I don’t think that there should be a problem.”

“Wait, so you can actually ride a horse and a bull?” asked Duo with bewilderment.

“Duo, calm down,” said Quatre, making note that he should try to keep Duo’s excitability under control.

“Um, yeah, you can,” replied Remilia, very slightly confused at Duo’s choice of words. “Tauros and Mudsdale are known as the Wild Bull and Draft Horse Pokémon, after all. Although it’s been said that the Tauros in Alola are relatively calm, compared to the ones in other regions…”

She then hoisted herself up the Tauros, with Duo following suit and placed his hands on her stomach (something briefly flashed within Remilia’s mind as she felt a wave of sudden warmth, but she brushed it off as Duo’s body heat being more intense than the others, as he managed to outrun the Passimian that were chasing him out of their territory), while Trowa, Heero, and Quatre climbed onto Mudsdale, in that order.

“Shall we get going?” Remilia asked the group.

“Ready when you are,” said Duo.

Remilia then pushed the handlebars gently to get Tauros into trotting motion, with Trowa doing the same thing. They then go into the direction of the dirt path from Lush Jungle to their next location, with Remilia hoping that might interest them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to have Remi meet Mallow (the tanned girl with the green hair), but I couldn't find a way to fit this into the story.
> 
> Oh, and before I forget, I do have a ref pic of Remi in my DeviantART gallery, my username there is the same as the one here. Don't forget to check her profile while you have the chance! ^^


	4. Awakening Beast (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More and more foreshadowing. ;)
> 
> Also, since I don't work for the weekend, I'll be posting one chapter per day. But I do work next week so, I'll be back to posting once every other day.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Paniola Ranch, One Hour and Five Minutes Later*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*No BGM*♫♩

It might be the clean, pure air and fresh sunshine that made them feel this way, or perhaps the relief of recently finding their companion Duo Maxwell (although a little less than unscathed) after he emerged from Lush Jungle, riding on the dirt path from there on Mudsdale and Tauros was probably the most relaxing time the Gundam pilots have ever felt. Possibly even more so when riding on a Pokémon such as a Mudsdale or Tauros. Quatre once commented on how great the atmosphere and the environment is on Akala Island, stating that everything around here feels more soothing and content, with Duo agreeing immeasurably. Remilia had said that she and her friends felt the same when they first arrived in Paniola town with Professor Kukui. She described it as a western-style town no different than the regions farther west from Unova (she states that she forgets the name, plus it’s a little hard to pronounce). Duo once mentioned he would probably feel more at home there, with Remilia laughing in agreement.

“If my may ask,” Trowa spoke up awhile in their conversation. “Who is Professor Kukui?”

“Oh, Kukui is a Pokémon professor that lives on the same island as me and my friends,” Remilia explains, brushing aside a stray pink-brown strand from her face. “He studies Pokémon moves. What also sets him from the other professors in other regions is that he doesn’t provide the starter Pokémon to Trainers; the kahuna on each island only does that.”

“What’s a starter Pokémon?” Duo asked, before Heero immediately glared at him with his piercing blue eyes, which made the braided boy flinch and swallow in small fright before correcting himself. “Uh, I-I mean, wh-what’s the starter Pokémon in Alola?”  _ Fuck, Quat never told me it was gonna be  _ this _ hard! _

“The starter Pokémon are Rowlet, Litten and Popplio. Compared to other regions, though, it needs to go both ways in Alola. Instead of choosing a starter right off the bat-- Uh, wait, no, you can, but in Alola, whatever starter Pokémon you choose has to choose you as well. The Alolan people hold Pokémon in a more firm belief than other regions do. Well, except for Sinnoh, maybe, but the Sinnohans have a somewhat different context from the Alolans’.”

“I had no idea that the Alolans were this big on Pokémon aside from nature,” said Quatre. “I can almost imagine that the Pokémon and people here share a spiritual connection greater than in Unova or other regions, like they can understand it better than anyone else.”

Remilia turned to face the blond. “You think so? You grew up with Pokémon?”

“Yeah, I did. A lot of Pokémon, actually. Although it’s almost always Fairy-type Pokémon that my sisters keep as pets.”

Duo turned to face Quatre as well, with a playful smirk on his face. “ _ Really _ now? You never told us you wanted to be a fairytale princess when you grow up, Quatre.”

Quatre burst out laughing and placed his forehead onto where Heero’s spinal cord begins, with the latter curiously looking back to see him resting on it.

Remilia began to laugh as well, burying her face in the palm of her hand. “I shoulda known, considering he was surrounded by a lot of fairy Pokémon when we first found him in Melemele Meadow!”

Duo was laughing along with the two, having been told of that story while riding. “I could just imagine him in a white dress similar to Princess Peach in Super Mario Bros. surrounded by flowers and fairies with a flower crown on his head!” He coughed a few times to contain as much laughter as he possibly could. “In-in all seriousness, though, you actually found Quatre in Mele...mele Meadow?”

“We did, actually, Duo,” Trowa replied. “Remilia was the one who found Heero and I firstly, near the Ruins of…” He bit his gently bit his lip in recollection. “The Ruins of Conflict on the same island.”

“So I was the only one that got landed here on Akala than you guys?”

“Duo.”

The Deathscythe pilot turned his head slightly to Quatre, who said his name and having just recovered from his laughter, pressing his index finger against his lips, looking at him with urgency to signal that he, like himself and the others, needs to keep quiet about where they actually came from. Duo shot back a look that’s supposed to state that he already understands the situation they’ve gotten into, it’s just that he hates lying, as stated in this spoken motto when he first met Remilia and introduced himself to her back at Lush Jungle.

“Remilia, this might seem like an odd question,” said Quatre, trying to change the subject a little. “But are there any other ruins besides the Ruins of Conflict on Melemele?”

“Yeah, there is,” she responded. “On Akala, there’s the Ruins of Life, Ula’ula Ruins of Abundance and Poni Ruins of Hope. Each of these ruins house a guardian deity for each island.”

“A guardian deity,” Heero finally said.

“Yeah, a guardian deity. All of these ruins are homes of Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini. They each have attributes that sets them apart from each other, and some worship all of them as gods.”

_ A lot of these attributes Remilia was talking about are more similar to our home dimension’s than I thought, _ Quatre started thinking after listening to Remilia’s share of knowledge.  _ These guardian deities she mentioned just now are almost exactly akin to Hawaiian gods and goddesses back in our world. Perhaps the dimension I, Heero, Duo and Trowa are currently in is actually an alternate Earth after all? I wonder if other dimensions or alternate Earths are like this one in particular? _

His thoughts are just then interrupted by a yelp and light clattering of a box and some other objects. The others heard as well, and Remilia pulled at the handlebars to make Tauros stop with Trowa doing the same to Mudsdale. Remilia immediately jumped off of Tauros and ran towards the person who made such noises.

They see in front of them the person Remilia was helping is a girl that looks a few years older than her with braided blond hair, blue skinny jeans with the legs tucked inside brown work boots and a white button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves underneath. Remilia starts to talk to her as if she recognizes her with the girl communicating similarly.

Duo became the first to get off of the ride Tauros and walked towards the two out of curiosity, with Quatre coming last with only Heero and Trowa deciding to follow them. The four stopped a couple feet away from Remilia and the girl (but keeping a reasonable distance from Tauros and Mudsdale), who was gathering small red-and-white balls into a wooden crate the girl had apparently dropped. They noticed that these balls look similar to the Poké Ride ball Remilia frequently uses to summon the ride Pokémon, except that they were differently colored and a lot smaller. They each have a black band in the middle with a light gray button in the center!

“Thanks for helping me with this, Remilia,” said the blonde girl after she gathered up the last few Poké Balls into the crate.

“It’s nothing, Savannah,” replied Remilia. “Did you trip on something?”

“I think it’s a small ditch, but I can’t be sure.”

“So, who’s this blonde girl?” Duo asked. “Friend of yours?”

Remilia shrugged a little after noticing the boys behind her. “You could say that. This is Savannah. She’s a Pokémon breeder and overlooks the care and grooming of the ride Pokémon in Paniola Ranch.”

♫♩*~Aruka’s Load (n25) - H/MIX Gallery~*♫♩

  
  


Savannah made a small wave at them. “Hi! Welcome to Paniola Ranch! You boys tourists or something? You don’t look like you’re from around here.”

“We’re university students from Unova,” Quatre explained. “We’re here on vacation and Remilia… was kind enough to be our tour guide.”

“On the contrary,” said Remilia with a teasing smirk. “You guys volunteered me into this, it’s on you.”

Quatre chuckled sheepishly in response.

“You guys hail from Unova University, huh?” said Savannah. “What are your majors?”

That question made Quatre’s heart pound against his ribcage like an iron bell ringing, and he’s sure that the others must feel the same. He rummaged through his brain for logical-as-possible answers (and he could already feel Duo’s panicked gaze burning onto his scalp) to reply to Savannah.

“Well,” the Sandrock pilot began. “All of us have different majors, actually, but we’re studying Pokémon biology.”

“Oh, I see. Pokémon biology, huh? That’s usually a requirement course for everyone.”

“Is it really?” Remilia asked (much to the relief of Quatre and the boys).

“Oh, it actually was the entire time U.U. existed,” replied Savannah. “Even if you’re studying to be a mechanic or something that’s not Pokémon-related, it’s the course you gotta take. If you’re planning on studying abroad, that’s some food for thought you need to take.”

“Thanks, I was planning on going there once I turned sixteen.”

The girls chuckled at the half-joke.

“If I may ask, Savannah,” said Duo as he took a step towards them. “What are those in that crate?”

“What, these?” the breeder took out a random ball from the wooden crate. “Those are the Poké Balls that contain the starter Pokémon I was about to distribute to the different islands.”

“Starter Pokémon are bred here?” Trowa asked. 

“Yep, the starters are specifically bred for fledgling Trainers. We’re not the only ones here; different regions also breed different starter Pokémon for every Trainers’ journey. They’re rarely seen in the wild.”

Savannah then pressed a gray button on the Poké Ball, enlarging it to the size that’s a little bigger than a tennis ball, surprising the boys a little. The Poké Ball burst open, releasing a small Pokémon that resembles a barn owl, except that it’s small and round, and has a more rounded stubby beak and has leaves for a bowtie. The boys couldn’t even tell if the leaves were simply added to the feathers or if they’re actually growing out of them.

“This here’s Rowlet, for an example” Savannah explained. “It’s the Grass Quill Pokémon. It’s pretty popular with Trainers for its cute appearance.”

“No matter how many times I look at it, this thing creeps me the heck out,” Remilia said under her breath.

“It is pretty cute~,” said Duo, bending down a little and placing his hands on his knees to give it a closer look.

The Rowlet then rotated its head sideways so that its black eyes are at the top and bottom of its beak instead of side to side, and let out a little owl hoot. Instead of being enamoured a little bit more, Duo’s indigo eyes widened. Were his eyes tricking him? The Rowlet then rotated its head back to a normal position. Again, were Duo’s eyes tricking him?

Remilia seemed to notice the surprised expression on his face and said, “Yeah, that’s pretty much the reason why I never chose Rowlet as a starter. Those eyes look like they wanna poke yours out.”

“I can really understand why,” said Savannah as she returned the Rowlet to its designated ball. “Although if I were in their place, I would definitely choose Rowlet because I love Grass- and Flying-types.”

“Well, I’m a huge, huge fan of Water-types, that’s why I chose Popplio as my starter. That, and because it’s so cute-looking with the little pink nose as well as the clown motif! Well, yeah, it did lose it when it, like, evolved, but I still love it regardless!”

“If I may ask, Remilia,” said Quatre. “What did your Popplio evolve into, during your journey?”

“Gimme one second.” Remilia opened her hot pink fanny pack with a Gorebyss silhouette and took out a Poké Ball with a rainbow bubble sticker on it. “I recommend you guys to brace yourselves.”

With a confident and proud smirk, she enlarged the Poké Ball by pressing the center button, and the ball burst open with white energy escaping from it, taking the shape of what appears to be a mermaid. When the light dissipated, the creature sat before the flabbergasted pilots--including Heero--as a mermaid with sea lion traits. It has white fur, blue eyes that seem to be sparkling in the sunlight with white eyelashes, a blue scaly tail with white furry tail flippers plus pink fins encircling its hips, a blue fin-like crown with large pearls and pink sea stars, another fin on its chest and over its shoulders, and two more fins that begin at the tail and end where its tail flippers begin. It also has a pink spherical nose like a clown nose and wavy aqua blue hair tied in a ponytail held by smaller pearls. The hair seems to be flowing slowly and endlessly.

“It’s beautiful,” said Trowa breathlessly.

“It is,” Quatre agreed, his eyes fixated on the beautiful Water-type Pokémon that Remilia has.

“I think I’m in love,” said Duo next.

The other pilots looked at him weirdly.

“What?! Can’t I at least say that like a normal person?”

“I don’t think a normal person would say that when they see something breathtaking,” said Heero. “That could be taken out of context.”

“Anyway!” said Remilia in an attempt to make things a lot less awkward. “This is Popplio’s final evolution. Primarina: the Soloist Pokémon. It’s a dual Water/Fairy-type.”

“Looks a bit more ‘mermaid’ than ‘fairy.’”

“That’s because mermaids come from fairytales, Heero,” said Duo. “Don’t you even read them?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Well, back to the subject,” Remilia intervened once more. “Primarina is categorized as a secondary Fairy-type because of the alleged ongoing phenomenon what scientists call ‘fairy force.’”

“Fairy force?” Quatre asked.

“Yeah, fairy force. What it actually does is frequently disputed due to Fairy being a recently-discovered type. Though I could care less…” the pink-haired Trainer kneeled down next to the Primarina. “Because I’m happy to have a mermaid/fairy companion by my side!” 

She then hugged the Primarina, gently resting her chin on its shoulder with it returning the favor by wrapping its flippers round her lower arms.

“I think it’s nice to see that people like you view Pokémon as more than just pets,” Quatre commented. “They’re also actually viewed as allies and travelling companions.”  _ Although to be truthful, I wasn’t really comfortable with the concept of animals like Pokémon battling each other, even to near-death… _

“What other Pokémon besides Primarina do you have on your team, Remilia?” Trowa asked.

“Oh, I have seven other Pokémon, actually,” Remilia replied as she got back up on her feet.

“Seven?” Quatre said next. “Isn’t that a little much?”

“Well, I use four different Pokémon interchangeably whenever I battle.”

“Interchangeably?”

“No. Kai and Nori were the two Pokémon with me on my island challenge. I switched them in the PC with Zero, my Absol, and Emil, my Sandslash when he was a little Sandshrew. I had an Ice Stone then, so I evolved it into Sandslash when he grew strong enough and me earning enough of his trust. Isabelle, my Mismagius, was one of the last to evolve; before my last trial, I used a Dusk Stone I bought at the Malie flea market on Ula’ula so she could evolve from a Misdreavus and--”

“Your Pokémon’s life stories are irrelevant to us,” said Heero rudely, frowning a little while crossing his arms against his chest, shooting her an icy glare. “We only asked if it really is your whole team for your island challenge.”

Remilia made a face at him. “Excuse  _ you _ , butthole. I didn’t take Nori, my Butterfree or Kai, my Ledian to the Lanakila Pokémon League, I just deposited them into the PC to play in Poké Pelago so that they could get stronger and put my Absol and Sandslash in my team.”

“That’s still two Pokémon above the six-Pokémon limit,” said Savannah.

“Well, it’s better than having ten. And besides, Kai and Nori have been essential to me during my island challenge. I only switched them out with Isil’zha and Emil because I worried that they might not be strong enough for the summit on Mount Lanakila. I wouldn’t say it’s quality over quantity. Even if I had six instead of eight, I would be happy either way, because I love my team with all my heart.”

“That’s understandable, but eight is still exceeding the limit.”

“On the upside,” Quatre stepped in. “You I think you do have a wonderful team, even if it’s exceeding the limit.” _Wait, is having only six Pokémon_ _on your team an unspoken rule in this world?_

“Thanks! They’re also pretty kickass in battle if you would like to see them in action!”

“I think we can save that for later,” said Trowa. 

Remilia then summoned her Primarina back into her ball, and returns it to her fanny pack. “I guess you’re right. Royal Avenue’s just up ahead past Paniola Ranch and into Route 6.”

“Royal Avenue?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” asked Duo next.

“Oh, Royal Avenue is where the Battle Royal Dome is,” Remilia explained. “There’s an all-week Multi-Battle event going on, and there’s no way that I’m gonna miss it!”

“That actually sounds like fun!”

“Multi-Battle?” Heero asked

“Oh, it’s when a pair of Trainers battle another pair of Trainers. If you guys like, I can show you what a true Pokémon battle really is, since neither one of you are Trainers yourselves.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Quatre said.

“Sweet!” Duo exclaimed.

Remilia jogged back to the ride Tauros and hopped onto it, with Duo following suit. Quatre, Trowa and Heero simply walked towards the ride Mudsdale and climbed back onto it, in the same order as before.

“Let’s get going!” Remilia exclaimed. “I guess I’ll be seeing you sometime later, Savannah!”

“Same to you, Remilia,” Savannah replied. “Bye!”

“Bye!”

The pink-haired Trainer then motioned Tauros to go, with Trowa doing the same to Mudsdale. Together, they head down the path to Royal Avenue, where the Battle Royal Dome resides in.


	5. Awakening Beast (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the plot REALLY starts to kick in. ;)

♫♩*~Royal Avenue - Pokémon Sun and Moon~*♫♩

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Remilia and company stepped down from the ride Pokémon and the former summoned them both back to their ball on her ride pager. The trip from Paniola Ranch to Royal Avenue took a little under an hour, with Tauros and Mudsdale’s trotting speed. 

Duo became the first to take a few steps ahead of the group. “So, this is Royal Avenue? Looks kinda cool.”

“Indeed,” Quatre agreed. “It’s a little smaller than Heahea City.”

“Small, but otherwise kickass,” Remilia replied. “The Battle Royal Dome should be farther up ahead. We might have to cross a few streets to get there, though.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster just to get there using these ride Pokémon?” asked Duo.

“We would, but we need both Tauros and Mudsdale for that,” Heero replied. “Riding on a Mudsdale on public streets and roads is against the law.”

“Haagh, that’s a bummer.”

“It should take us fifteen minutes tops, so it shouldn’t take that long to get there,” Remilia assured the braided pilot.

“Seriously? My legs are already sore from running away from these Passi-whatchamacallit.”

“Passimian,” Heero corrected.

“ _ Really _ now? I could have sworn those were football players disguised as lemurs.”

“We should get going,” Remilia spoke up, not having detected the sarcasm in Duo’s voice. “So, follow me.”

“Can you please tell us a little bit more about the Battle Royals, Remilia?” asked Quatre.

“Sure, Quat, I’d love to!”

The pink-haired Pokémon Trainer led her four new guy friends towards a street to their left (all of them ignoring the light blush on Quatre’s cheeks when she called him “Quat” instead of his actual name), crossing as soon as the signal changed to “Walk”. Along the way, as promised, Remilia told the four boys in greater detail about the Battle Royal (as in, as much to her knowledge about it). She explained that the format of four Pokémon battling each other at once stemmed from a sacred tradition of Alola’s guardian deities battling each other to see who is the strongest of them all. She later confessed that she doesn’t know when the people of Alola started imitating the deities in their manner, but that was how the Battle Royal format came to be since then. The Battle Royal Dome sometimes holds tournaments of single- or multi-battles that can last up to a week, depending on the tournament format. She signed up for the multi-battle tournament yesterday with one of her friends, but she stated that he fell sick. He told her to participate in the tournament for him, she said. Quatre says that it was very noble of her male friend to say such a thing.

The party arrived at the street where the Battle Royal Dome is located. Their time of arrival was nearly five minutes above Remilia’s estimated time, even when the streets were not as busy today. Soon, the dome came into their view. The Gundam pilots (Duo, mostly) looked at the building in amazement. From the outside, it looked like an ice hockey arena (with Duo mentioning that it looks a bit like the Giant Center in Hershey Park back home--which promptly earned a sharp yank of his braid by Heero). But that was only until they noticed the big door frame being flanked by Machamp and Hariyama balloons. When Trowa asked Remilia about this, she only replied that she thought that those two Pokémon were the mascots of the Battle Royal Dome. She also expressed displeasure that it was because of their physical strengths that they became the mascots, further stating that it is her own personal belief that anybody can learn to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of Pokémon, as what Pokémon is the “strongest” is entirely subjective, and if a Pokémon is said to be the strongest, it’s the handiwork of a great Trainer, not the Pokémon itself.

Duo became the first to stop in his tracks, confusing the other boys and Remilia. “Hey, Remi, can I ask you something?”

A little uncomfortable with someone else other than her male friend using her nickname, Remilia replied, “Sure, Duo, what is it?”

“Do you like, um, teach your Pokémon cool tricks or something?”

Heero growled slightly, but Remilia nonetheless replied, “Yeah, of course I do. Trainers like me teach their Pokémon to do it all the time! Well, the most I’ve heard are actually Pokémon Coordinators.”

“Pokémon Coordinators?” Trowa asked. 

“Coordinators are Trainers who participate in Pokémon Contests,” the pink-haired Trainer explained. “The most I’ve followed online are in Hoenn and Sinnoh. Kinda sucks that those weren’t the case here, though.”

“You wanted to be a Pokémon Coordinator?” asked Quatre.

Remilia shrugged. “Sometimes. Though I’m kinda actually happy with the position I’m in.”

“Position?” Heero asked.

Remilia licked her lips in thought. “Just a Pokémon Trainer. One of the best, according to some people.”

Heero couldn’t help but notice that the tone of Remilia’s voice sounded as if it was a fact instead of her boasting about it. He could only wonder what she’s hiding.

“Can you show us some neat tricks your Pokémon can do?” Duo asked, coyly bending down with an anticipated smirk on his face.

“Yeah, sure thing!” Remilia replied.

She then unzipped her Gorebyss fanny pack and reached into it to take out her Poké Balls--one with the rainbow bubble sticker the other with a hot pink eye sticker--and released Brynja the Primarina and Nori the Butterfree. 

“Nori, Brynja,” Remilia said to them. “Make a water sphere.”

Brynja pointed her pink nose upwards at an angle and squirted out a thin stream of water into the air. Nori’s red eyes glowed blue and the squirt of water was caught in midair, surrounded by a blue aura. The water swirled at Nori’s command and it finally became spherical, a size no bigger than a basketball. 

“Ohh, that is so cool,” Duo breathed.

“Yeah,” Quatre replied. “It’s actually pretty amazing.”

“I’ve also been teaching them to make different shapes as well,” said Remilia, amused at the pilots’ expressions (Heero’s being seemingly the most amazed to her; she can see it in those cold blue eyes of his). “Wanna see?”

“Do we ever! Do it! I wanna see!” said Duo excitedly, bouncing a little.

Quatre shook his head in amusement. He’s like a little kid excitedly waiting for Christmas to arrive.

“Okay!” Remilia turned her head to Nori.

Nori telekinetically changed the water sphere into a silhouette of a chubby mouse-like creature with long pointed ears and a lightning bolt-shaped tail. She also moved one of the arms up and down, making look like it was waving.

The Gundam pilots watched with interest (Duo being more so than any of them) as Nori made the movements of the water Pikachu with her psychic power. It’s particularly amazing that a creature such as Nori can use this type of power to manipulate the shape of a water sphere. Maybe there is more to these creatures than they might have thought.

“And, burst!” said Remilia.

Nori changed the Pikachu back to the watersphere, and made it explode into water droplets, sparkling in the sunlight as the little droplets of mist fell to the grass. 

“Remilia, that’s actually very amazing!” said Quatre. “You’ve been teaching your Primarina and Butterfree this trick the entire time?”

“Yeah,” the pink-haired girl replied. “I’ve also been doing it as a way to hone Nori’s psychic powers. So I guess you could say I’ve been invested in making her as strong as an average Psychic-type with minimal problems.”

“Minimal problems?” Trowa asked.

“Yeah. Whenever Nori tries to lift something heavy, or tries to manipulate a complex object, she gets exhausted, though not to the point of fainting. And I’ve been slowly getting her to work to overcome it as much as possible.

“Part of being a good Pokémon Trainer is that you have to accept the limits your Pokémon have, even if you push them. There are also times that you have to accept that some limits aren’t meant to be pushed and they’re fine the way they are. Like I said before, Pokémon have a lot of different strengths and weaknesses; you just need to work with them and around them if you want your Pokémon to be among the strongest, appreciate them for what they are and what they’re capable of. Those are the most important rules of being a Pokémon Trainer.”

“Remili,a that’s… that’s really deep,” said Quatre. “And very noble.”

“Not to mention pretty awesome,” Duo added in. “There’s gotta be more people like you who think that some things are limitless and some aren’t, that they’re just the way they are.”

Remilia blushed a little at the attention she was getting from the blonde and braided boys. “U-um, yeah, thanks. I just wish that other Trainers like me would understand it.”

“Yeah, me too. People are fuckin’ idiots nowadays.”

“Pfft. You don’t think?”

“Um, hey, excuse me?” Remilia heard someone bound on the grass towards her.

She and the boys turned around to see a blue-eyed girl with short brown hair, wearing a light blue hooded mini-dress with black bicycle shorts underneath and tan ankle boots. Behind her was a strange-looking pink creature that looked like a cross between a hippo and a salamander. It was standing upright, a gray shell-like crown on its head with a red gem in the middle and an alternating red-and-white ruff around its neck. Duo was the only one who grimaced a little at its appearance, the eyes and muzzle especially.

Oblivious to this fact, Remilia said back, “Um, yeah? Can we help you with something?”

“I think what you did just now,” the girl replied. “That was pretty amazing. Are you a Pokémon Coordinator or something?”

“Well, thanks. And no, I’m just a Pokémon Trainer. It’s just what I sometimes do whenever I have nothing to do.”

“I see.”

Remilia’s blue eyes led themselves to the Slowking (not that the boys would know that it actually is a Slowking) behind the girl in front of her. Then, something clicked in her mind. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“M-my name is Miranda.”

“Remilia. Well, then, Miranda. Would it be all right if you volunteer your Slowking for another trick I’m about to show the boys behind me?”

“Another trick? Sure! So, what does my Slowking have to do?”

Remilia bit her lip in thought. “Well, we can start by moving to…” She looked at the grassy area ahead of her. “Here! That way we’ll be away from some people.”

“In this area?” Quatre asked, pointing in the direction Remilia is looking. “Over there?”

Remilia turned around to face the blonde Sandrock pilot. “Yeah, over there.” She then looked at Brynja, who was sitting on the grass the entire time she, Miranda and the others were talking. Nori’s fine on her own, since she’s the only one present that can move around, but Brynja... “Aw, shucks.”

“It’s all right,” said Trowa, understanding the expression on Remilia’s face. “I’ll carry Brynja.”

“Are you sure about that, Tro?” asked Duo. “Because Brynja here’s kinda…”

Brynja simply blinked as she stared upwards at the braided pilot at eye-level. The latter could have sworn that his jodhpurs felt very slightly tighter.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Remilia, oblivious to what Duo’s feeling right now, much less what he was going to say. “The average weight of a Primarina is forty-four kilos. Plus she’s a near-tall two meters.”

“That converts to ninety-seven pounds in weight and nearly six feet in height, Duo,” said Heero, after being silent for so long.

“I didn’t say anythin’ ‘Ro!” Duo objected.

Trowa bends down to one knee, and slid one arm behind Brynja’s thin back and the other underneath her scaly blue tail where he assumes where her “knees” should be and picked her up with a slight but apparent huff, stood straight back up, with the water-type Pokémon now in his arms bridal style. Brynja slowly placed her front flippers on Trowa’s shoulder--covering the entirety of it--unsure if she trusts the stranger holding her right now. If he’s her master’s new friend, then she thinks it’s okay?

“Thanks, Trowa, that’s another problem solved,” said Remilia.

“Happy to help,” replied the green-eyed Heavyarms pilot.

“Right. So let’s get moving. I’ll let you know once I see a spot.”

Remilia starts to lead Miranda and the boys farther away from the Battle Royal Dome and into the grassy area ahead of them. After a minute and a half of walking, Remilia stopped, with the others following suit. “There, this’ll do.”

“What right here?” Duo asked.

“Far enough from the dome and other people. Trowa, you can set Brynja down right about, uh, here.”

Trowa obliged and gently set Brynja back down on the grass. The latter winced a little as the blades brushed against her blue scales. She never liked the feeling of grass prickling against her body. Meanwhile, Remilia took off her white ruffled messenger bag and set it down on the grass next to her feet, massaging her left shoulder a little to ease the aches.

“Uh, Remilia, this might sound like a dumb question,” Duo asked. “But Brynja’s able to move on her own even on land, yeah?”

“She is, but her speed is pretty abysmal on land,” replied Remilia. “In the water, her speed gets up to the near speed of a torpedo!”

“Really?” said Miranda. “I’ve never had a Primarina, but I think I could see what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, pretty amazing, right?” She then turned to the Soloist Pokémon next to Trowa. “Okay! Brynja, use Water Gun to make a big sphere like you did previously. Nori, use Psychic to hold the sphere together. Miranda, you’re helping us, right, with your Slowking?”

“Of course I would! Slowking will definitely help out.”

“All right! You guys ready when I give the signal. Now!”

♫♩*~Dolphin Shoals - Mario Kart 8~*♫♩

On command, Brynja craned her head upwards and squirted out a larger amount of water from her pink nose, but Nori and Miranda’s Slowking were able to catch the water (with the red gem on its shell crown changing to a glowing blue, with its hands being surrounded by a blue aura) with their move Psychic. The more water flowed from Brynja’s nose, the bigger the water sphere grew. The Gundam pilots backed away a little so that they wouldn’t touch the sphere accidentally and get dark wet spots on their clothes. When the sphere grew big enough, Brynja ceased her water gun move. Remilia planted her hands on her hips as she stared at the handiwork her and Miranda’s Pokémon had done (or rather, doing, as Nori and Slowking are still psychically holding the water sphere’s shape together and making it “float”).

“That is so cool,” Duo commented, the look of amazement evident in his indigo orbs.

“May I ask what happens next?” said Quatre.

“What happens next is that Brynja takes a dip in it,” Remilia replied. “I take her to Brooklet Hill on this island from time to time to get her some exercise and catch some Wishiwashi and Magikarp to eat. Sometimes I teach her some tricks to perform in the water.”

“I guess that’s great n’ all, but how exactly is Brynja gonna ‘take a dip?’” Duo asked. “Does she like, use her flippers to get into the water sphere or what?”

“Oh, she’ll get in. Her first stage evolution is a Popplio. They’re well known for circus tricks and making big bubbles to bounce on all the time.”

“Here that, Tro? Sounds like you found a kinship!”

“Just because I work at the circus doesn’t mean I find a kinship in a seal Pokémon such as Popplio or Primarina, Duo,” Trowa stated, frowning slightly.

“Wait, you work at the circus?” asked Remilia.

“Yes, I do. Did I not tell you this?”

“No, I don’t think you did. Oh, wait, yeah, you did, I just went and forgot about it, heh.” Remilia placed her hands on her hips again, her left side jutting out. “Maybe you and Brynja can demonstrate a trick to get her into the water.”

Trowa briefly lowered his head in thought. “Maybe Brynja can do it on her own? You did say that Popplio can blow big bubbles, so the same must be true for her species, right?”

“Oh, yeah, you’re definitely correct, Trowa. But I really wanna see you and Brynja do it just this once. Please? She can just blow a big enough bubble to bounce on and to support her weight while you just, um… do your thing.”

Brynja took a breath and started blowing out a bubble from her nose. Once she inflates it big enough, she jumps up in standing height on her hind flippers--one flipper in front of the other in the back--while the bubble slowly floats to the grass, never breaking (much to the pilots’ amazement). She bends down once and front-flips onto the apparently thick water bubble she created, landing on her front flippers. Upon doing this, she bounces off the bubble, giving her enough air to flip back down to her hind flippers, bouncing off the bubble yet again (which burst from the impact of the second bounce), and finally nose-diving into the water sphere.

Miranda and Duo were the first to clap. “Wow, that was amazing!” Miranda said.

“I’ll say!” Duo agreed.

Remilia blinked at the spectacle done by her Primarina. “Wow, I guess she can do it on her own!”

Trowa crossed his arms, a small smile appearing on his face. “She did after all.”

“But seriously, though, that bubble is so thick!” Duo commented. “I didn’t think it would burst the first time, even with Brynja’s weight!”

“The Primarina line, as Trowa correctly guessed, can make bubbles just from using a combination of water and bodily fluids to make thick enough bubbles to support their body weight, so they can bounce enough times before bursting,” Remilia explained. “That’s why I always carry an extra water bottle in my bag for Brynja to drink so that she can make a lot of bubbles.”

“Ew.”

“I think that’s an interesting fact,” said Quatre. “You also take such good care to your Pokémon, too.”

Remilia shrugged lightly. “Thanks. As a Trainer, it’s always important to pay attention to your Pokémon’s needs and what such maintenance they require. It’s really no different than raising a child.”

“In your case, you’ve got eight kids to raise,” said Duo as he put his hands on his hips with a playful smirk on his face.

Remilia laughed at the braided boy’s comment. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Although from the way I see it, they’re just adult pets whenever battling’s not the current issue.”

“Remilia, look!” Miranda spoke up. “I think your Primarina’s doing another trick!”

“Really?” Remilia turned her attention to Brynja, who was briefly swimming in the watersphere.

The mermaid-like Pokémon jumped up from the water sphere in a twirling motion, followed by the water droplets sparkling in the bright Alolan sun. She then positioned herself to do a backwards semi flip and landed straight into the liquid blue ball once again, creating a median splash of sparkling water held together by Nori and Miranda’s Slowking.

“Holy shit, that is awesome!” Duo laughed in excitement.

“I’m the one who taught her that trick,” Remilia explained. “Fished up a lot of Magikarp and Wishiwashi for Nori and Kai to throw at her to eat, but it was worth it.”

Brynja poked her head out of the water sphere and stared at her master’s direction.

The pink-haired girl noticed this and approached her. “What’s wrong, Brynja?”

Brynja let out a few notes consisting of low squeaks and whistles. Remilia tried to study the noise she heard just now carefully to see if she can get some type of context out of it. She then stared hard into her iridescent blue eyes for any further clues that she could combine with the notes of her soft cry. 

After a full minute of thinking, Remilia finally said, “You want me to get into the watersphere with you? Just like I did whenever we would go swimming in Brooklet Hill together when we were practicing your tricks?”

Brynja let out another low squeak.

“She wants you to get in?” Duo asked. “In your clothes?”

“I think that’s the gist of it,” Remilia replied, turning her head to face him and the other pilots.

Brynja tried to boop her nose onto her master’s chest--which the latter backed out at the last minute.

“Brynja, there are people watching,” she said, starting to feel slightly uneasy. “Besides, tank top is mostly white, so I don’t think--”

Suddenly, Brynja’s flippers enwrapped themselves around Remilia’s thin arms and before she knew it, the pink-haired girl was suddenly pulled in the water sphere, crying out.

Remilia found herself in the clear blue watery world of the sphere. Everything around her suddenly became muffled and blurred. She could only make out the blurred image of her Primarina still holding on to her. She would only guess that there’s still traces of her Pokémon’s “baby” phase in her “adult” form. Remilia remembered all too well that all Brynja would ever do when she was a Popplio or even a Brionne was that she would rather play or goof off than battle. During that time period before her evolving into Brionne or Primarina, Remilia would have to coax Brynja into battling just by saying that the opposing Pokémon would like to be her “playmate;” slowly but miraculously, it worked. Come evolving into a Brionne, that method became no longer needed, but had to be revised because Brynja would rather dance than battle, so Remilia let her do her own thing for the purpose of confusing or exhausting her opponent, even with her low speed on land. She thanked Arceus a great many times that Brynja had matured into a “gracious young lady” by the time she evolved into Primarina, even with her speed lowering a little, which she was able to work with due to her being on land most of the time.

Remilia suddenly found herself wanting air, as Brynja did not give her time to take a deep breath when she pulled her Trainer in. She found her strength and quickly swam up to the surface of the sphere, coughing many times to expel the little bit of water from her lungs and then gasping for fresh summer air. With all of this done and wiping off the excess water from her face with her hand, she looked at her surroundings. Remilia’s still in the area she, Miranda and her Slowking, Nori, and the boys are. She sent a silent thanks to Arceus for letting her reach the surface out of the boys’ sight where she would have been seen.

“Remilia?”

Shit; spoke too soon.

Duo, Quatre and Trowa approached the girl after noticing that Brynja pulled her into the water sphere, concern evident on their faces. Remilia only prayed that they wouldn’t notice her bra showing a little through her now wet Luvdisc tank top. Beside her, her Primarina also popped her head out of the water, purely out of curiosity.

“Are you okay?” Trowa had asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” Remilia replied.

“Smart cookies, your Pokèmon are,” stated Duo with an amused smirk.

“When are they not, Duo?” Remilia returned the smirk, ignoring Trowa’s sarcasm, her embarrassment of being exposed via the water to the boys before her that are her guy friends. Although she couldn’t help but worry that they might notice her, most notably possibly looking at her Luvdisc tank clinging on to her and exposing her bra a little bit.

“Since you work at the circus, Trowa, you could have worked with Pokèmon before,” she said.

“Of course I do,” Trowa replied.

“I think that sounds pretty cool.”

“By the way, Remilia,” Quatre started to ask. “Aren’t you going to, um, get out of the sphere?”

“I don’t think so. Brynja wants me to stay in the sphere for a little while longer.”

“Maybe she’s got a trick you too gonna perform in mind?” asked Duo coyly.

“Who knows? Either that, or maybe she wants one of you to jump in, too?”

The three pilots stared at the water sphere.

“I think I’ll have to, like, pass,” Duo answered.

“Me, too,” Quatre answered also.

“Swimming in the sphere might be a little disorienting, depending on the angle you’re in,” said Trowa.

Remilia simply shrugged. “I think it’s your loss, then. I’ll go and ask Heero if he wants to join.”

She then takes a deep breath and submerges herself into the water sphere. Even with her blurred vision under the water, she could still make out Heero’s figure to her left, and started swimming to it. The dark green tank top was a dead giveaway. 

Heero was checking if the water really is made from Primarina’s bodily fluids by poking his index finger into the sphere (which he discovered that most of it  _ is _ water, but with a little bit of said bodily fluids). Barely within his vision, he sees Remilia swimming towards him. The Wing pilot backed out just as the latter hit the surface of the water, taking a light breath of air, and she flashed him a smile.

Heero ignored the fact that her bra was being shown a little through her white tank top with the addition of her skin glistening in the sun from the water droplets riding down her cleavage, and just looked at her. While putting on his usual stoic facade, his cobalt blue eyes shone with curiosity as he stared into the lighter blue orbs before him.

Remilia noticed this and asked him, “You wanna go for a swim, Heero?”

Heero thought for a second. “No.”

Remilia tilted her head slightly.

“I just don’t like the idea of swimming in bodily fluids, especially if they are the bodily fluids of… Pokèmon.”

“To be fair, Heero, all of us living beings are made of water, so I don’t see why…”

“I’d rather not be caught bathing in a tub of blood like a vampire.”

“Don’t blame me if you’re missing out on the fun, then!”

With a huff (mostly to gather some air in her lungs) Remilia submerged herself into the water again and swam back to where she originally was.

Heero took the time to turn around and notice a small crowd gathering where he, Miranda and the other pilots are. He could only wonder if they’ve come here to look at the water sphere like it’s some sort of attraction. If that is truly the case, then it could be worrisome; Heero and the other boys’ identities as the Gundam pilots are not made known to Remilia or anyone else, and the last thing they need is unwanted attention. If it’s not the fact that they’re from another dimension and the distant future, then they’re pretty much ogling at them like they’re some sort of boy band or a group of male supermodels.

Quatre, meanwhile, placed his finger in the sphere and twirled the surface with it. It’s a little cool, but with it being exposed to the sun, it should be a little warmer. If not that from that assumption, it could be lukewarm from the fact that this is from Primarina’s body fluids. Although from his observations, it’s practically water; the amount of “bodily fluids” from Primarina is rather miniscule, at least to him. Trowa and Duo made the same observation as the Sandrock pilot, although with Duo, he’s not about to complain. As for Trowa, he is understandably slightly disturbed.

“Quatre, look out!” Duo exclaimed.

“Huh?” Quatre looked up, only to have his nose and eyes smacked with a pair of large wet breasts bouncing once as the pink-haired Pokèmon Trainer reached up to the surface, albeit at a somewhat different angle.*

♫♩*No BGM*♫♩

The blonde Sandrock pilot let out a cry of surprise as this happened, stumbling backwards and falling to the grass as if knocked down, his face rapidly reddening.

Seeing the scene, Remilia quickly jumped out of the water sphere, landed on her feet and ran to Quatre. Trowa also went to the scene (Duo was left behind because he started laughing his ass off at what just happened) to check if his friend and comrade is okay.

“Quatre, are you okay?” Remilia kneeled above him, ignoring the dripping water from her hair and clothes landing on him, creating a few dark spots on his pastel pink dress shirt and violet vest here and there. “I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t know you were this close to the water sphere!”

Quatre squirmed a little and buried his already red face in his hands, whimpering slightly.

“Remilia, why don’t you step back a bit?” said Trowa. “Let me handle this.”

Remilia swallowed, her desire to help and apologize to Quatre still fresh, but ultimately decided to leave Trowa and Quatre be for the time being. She walked towards Duo, who was trying and failing to keep himself standing, eventually collapsing to the grass with his howling laughter while clutching his stomach. Heero approached the laughing braided boy, choosing to ignore him. Instead, his gaze is focused on Remilia ignoring the fact that she’s dripping wet with her clothes clinging to her.

The petite girl took a couple steps towards him. While she did make note of his icy glare, she never let it deter her in the slightest. Instead, she let curiosity take over her, tilting her head, wondering what Heero might say. Not that she expected him to; hell, he even barely spoke! She sometimes wondered what exactly is on his mind, other than the fact that his bicycle shorts are skin-tight to the point of cutting of the circulation in his thighs.

Heero flicked his eyes towards Trowa, who was trying to comfort Quatre, with the latter blaming himself for not getting out of the way, murmuring things like how he was such a pervert for getting his nose to barely touch Remilia’s cleavage. He then tilted his head to Duo, who was starting to calm down a little from his laughing spell. He lastly directed his stare towards Remilia, face darkening slightly.

“Do I really want to know what just went on?” he said finally.

Remilia simply shrugged. “Mmm, kind of.”

“Would you mind telling me?”

As if on cue, Duo’s fingers reached up towards the leg of Heero’s shorts and tried to pull himself up. Heero took notice of this and attempted to help his fellow pilot back on his feet.

After a couple of tugs, Duo finally got himself back up, having calmed down mostly from his laughing, and wiping away his tears from his spell.

“Lemme, lemme, lemme fill ya in on this, ‘Ro,” he said after a few hard pants.

“I accidentally collided with Quatre,” Remilia cut in, a light blush evident on her face, but she lowered her head slightly. “When you’re not wearing goggles, everything underwater is blurry, so I had no idea how close he might be.”

“It was fucking funny, though,” said Duo, his expression saying that he might start laughing.

“I think I got the picture,” replied Heero in monotone.

Brynja suddenly emerged from the water, wondering where her master might be.

Remilia turned around and saw her Pokèmon’s upper torso only shown and exposed to the summer air. With a weary sigh, she turned back and walked towards to where her shoulder bag, fanny pack and hat is resting. Careful not to stain her fanny pack with her wet fingers, she unzipped it and carefully looked through it to look for Brynja’s Pokè Ball marked with the sticker she used for her. 

Finally, she finds it, and walks back towards the water sphere. “Let’s get you back into your ball, Brynja,” she said to her Primarina. “My multi-battle match in the Battle Royal Dome is coming up and I’d rather you rest for a little bit until then.”

Remilia presses the gray button the Pokè Ball, enlarging it and directs it towards Brynja as she gets engulfed into the red light and gets herself absorbed within the red-and-white chamber.

Shrinking it, she keeps hold onto it as she walked towards Miranda, Slowking and Nori. “Can your Slowking burst the sphere along with Nori? It’s not very big, so I think it can be lifted up easily and pop.”

“Oh, okay, sure thing,” replied Miranda.

Remilia walked towards her Butterfree, who was starting to show signs of exhaustion. “How are you hanging up, Nori?”

Nori chirped with a slight nod in response.

“Doing okay? All right. Tell you what, try holding on a little bit longer until Slowking gets hold of the water sphere and let it burst, okay?”

Remilia then backed off from the three of them and put her Pokè Ball back inside her fanny pack before joining up with Heero and Duo.

Miranda commanded her Slowking to lift the water sphere, with Nori doing the same from Remilia’s previous command. Together with their psychokinesis, both Nori and Slowking lifted with sphere up in a steady pace. Duo and the others held their breath as they witness the water sphere being elevated higher and higher in the air. Once it reached a reasonable height from the ground, Slowking took over from Nori, moving its hands to manipulate the sphere by dividing it into two separate strands of liquid as if they were pasta noodles. The liquid strands swirled briefly before becoming one again and burst, little droplets raining down to the ground. Most of the people that had gathered shielded themselves, but they were nonetheless mystified by the alleged performance seen.

Duo placed his hand on Remilia’s wet shoulder and winked at her. “Remilia, that’s really best water show I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Remilia looked up so that her eyes met his and smiled warmly at him. “Thank you. Although I really wasn’t intending for it to be a ‘water show’ as you put it.”

“Although that did answer your question, Duo,” said Heero.

“Hey, Remilia?”

Remilia turned to Miranda, who just said her name. “Yeah?”

“Here’s Butterfree back,” said Miranda, who was holding Nori in her arms. Remilia was relieved to see that she’s all right, if a little exhausted. 

She walked up to the brown-haired girl and took Nori from her arms and into her own. “Thank you, Miranda. And her name is Nori.”

“Nori, right. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. You doing all right, Nori?”

“Fu-riii,” Nori chirped.

“It’s good to see you’re not as worn out as I feared you’d be.”

Remilia went back to her fanny pack and brought out Nori’s respective Pokè Ball. She enlarged the device and it engulfs Nori in a red light and absorbs the Butterfly Pokèmon back in.

“Um, Remilia?”

The pink-haired girl turned back. “Yeah, Duo?”

“Um, I think maybe you should do something about you’re… um…” Duo brought a fist to his lips, with the added expression on his face saying that he didn’t want to come across as a pervert.

Remilia glanced towards Heero, who is standing next to him. As usual, aside from the ice-cold stare, his facial expression remains neutral. This is starting to frustrate her a little.

“I haven’t forgotten, Duo,” Remilia assured the braided boy. “I was just gonna go in the bushes over there and get my Salazzle to dry me up a little before my multi-battle match.”

“Or you could just go to the restroom in the Battle Royal Dome,” Quatre suggested, his tone of voice saying that he’s finally gotten over his embarrassment of his episode with Remilia thanks to Trowa’s comforting words.

Remilia blinked at the blond boy. “Or, in a pinch, yeah, I could use the bathroom there. Is anybody gonna carry my stuff?”

“I’ll do it,” said Trowa as he walked over to Remilia’s ruffled shoulder bag, fanny pack and seed-patterned hat and picked them all up in his arms. He noted that the bag is a little heavy, so he folded the strap and enclosed it with his hand along with the belt of Remilia’s Gorebyss fanny pack whilst he held her hat by the visor. 

“Thanks. Let’s get going, I don’t wanna be late for my match and get disqualified. Oh yeah, Miranda?”

“Yes?” Miranda looked at the pink-haired Trainer.

“Do you have a match scheduled for today?”

“Oh, no, I don’t. I had my multi-battle match yesterday and I lost.”

“Aww, that’s a shame. There’s always February.”

“Uh-huh. Maybe I’ll see you again, Remilia.”

“Yeah, me too. See you around when I get the chance to. Bye, Miranda.”

“Likewise. Goodbye, Remilia.”

Slowking waved goodbye to the group as they started walking towards the Battle Royal Dome. Heero was glad that the small crowd of people dispersed and went about their business. He briefly wondered if they happened to see the part where Remilia’s breasts accidentally collided with Quatre’s face, but he pushed that thought out of his mind. Both of them were embarrassed enough as it is.

Duo, meanwhile, scratched his right arm as it started to itch. However, his fingernails scratched against something solid that definitely did not feel like his skin. Bringing his arm up before him, he felt his heart hammering against his ribcage and stopped in his tracks. The little black spot he had seen earlier when he woke up in Lush Jungle had grown into something akin to a parallelogram; what’s more, is that it appears to be a black crystal that appears almost as if it’s growing out of his skin. 

Duo touched it lightly. It’s actual crystal, all right. Just what is going on with him?

“Duo, are you coming?” Heero called out, having noticed that the braided Deathscythe Hell pilot had stopped walking along.

Pushing the sight of his arm out of his mind, he quickly replied, in his usual energetic demeanor, “Yeah, I’m coming, Heero.”

He jogged up to the Wing pilot and the rest of the group and together they headed towards the entrance of the Battle Royal Dome.

  
  


♫♩*~Ultra Recon Squad Encounter - Pokèmon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon~*♫♩

Unbeknownst to them all, two individuals slowly walked towards the area they were previously in, keeping a reasonable distance between them and the group. These individuals are a man with a violet goatee with a long mustache that seems to curl inward on each end, and a woman that appears slightly younger than the man with blue hair that rests on her left collarbone and right side bangs that covers nearly half of her visor and blue lipstick. Both the man and woman have paper-white skin, and have white alien-looking suits and helmets with dark aqua and black markings all over them. The only significant difference with the suits they are wearing is that the man has jodhpurs whilst the woman’s visor as a singular line, compared to the man, whose visor has a line cut by the time it reaches the bridge of his nose.

“Are you certain that those two individuals among the group of people are here just now, Captain Phyco?” asked the woman.

“Yes,” the man now known as Phyco replied. “We have been following them for a long time, Soliera. The aura readings from the two young boys are quite unusual.”

“Do you believe that these boys might be something to do with our worshipped deity?”

“That we cannot be certain, Soliera. Yes, these boys are very special indeed.”

“How are we going to follow them without even one of them suspecting that we are? All I know is that they’ve entered the place designated as ‘Battle Royal Dome.’”

Phyco twirled his mustache in thought. “I strongly suggest we wait for a little while longer. When the time comes, we will try to sneak into the dome and observe the two boys.”

“If I recall correctly, those boys might hold the two halves of the key to restore our deity, the Blinding One.”

Phyco continued to twirl and stroke his mustache. “Yes. They are indeed the key.”


	6. Mutation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! Almost slipped my mind uploading this, sorry guys! ^^;
> 
> Please enjoy~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Battle Royal Dome*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Battle Royal Dome - Pokémon Sun and Moon~*♫♩

The lobby in the Battle Royal Dome is larger than any of the Gundam pilots had expected. It is also rather busy, people and Pokémon bustling around on the ceramic floors. Remilia made a mad dash to the women’s restroom, telling the boys to stay where they are prior, although Duo secretly followed her there, just stopping at the doorway and leaning against a wall. Heero, Trowa and Quatre were initially puzzled as to why Duo would do this, although they all decided not to press it. Actually, this is rather good for Heero; whenever he’s around the braided Deathscythe Hell pilot, he had felt vague twinges of being “pulled” towards him, but they weren’t bad enough for him to start caring.

Eventually, Remilia stepped out of the bathroom, being fully padded with long streams of toilet paper within her clothes--including into and onto her bra, lest she would accidentally reawaken Quatre’s mental and emotional scars--and shoes and her pink-brown hair fully wringed free from excess water. She was quite surprised when she discovered that Duo was apparently waiting outside for her. She asked what he’s doing here and why he’s doing so, Duo’s response was this, with a playful smirk on his face:

“Probably because I’m not the type to behave myself.”

Remilia had a rather interesting expression on her face after he said that. Duo reiterated that he was waiting outside for her. Remilia decided to let it go after that statement.

The pink-haired Pokémon Trainer nonetheless went back to the group with the braided boy following behind. “Okay, now that I’m all padded up and currently drying, I’m gonna go and register at the reception desk.”

“But you said you’re gonna participate in a multi-battle,” said Quatre. “How will you do that without your partner present?”

“You can register at the last minute as long as the first set of rounds goes on,” Remilia explained. “This multi-battle tournament is gonna be a little shorter because there are not as many people registered, which is a bummer in my opinion. Besides, today is the last day of walk-in registers and they end in about…” Her blue eyes searched for a clock high up on the wall. “Five minutes from now.”

“Then who will you choose as your partner then? Will you choose Duo?”

Everybody’s eyes fell onto the Sandrock pilot.

“I think it’s safe to say that Duo might have developed a fondness for Remilia,” the blond boy explained. “Don’t think I didn’t notice. And I’m more than certain that you took notice of it, too, Trowa, Heero.”

“What sort of fondness do you mean by that?” asked Remilia, a little confused. “Actually, you know what? That can wait until Duo and I registered.”

“Huh?” said Duo.

He suddenly found himself being dragged away by Remilia, who suddenly took hold onto his wrist (which she noticed that it was thicker than she expected, given how scrawny he is, from her observations, at least).

Upon seeing them approach the registration desk, the three boys thought it was a perfect opportunity to discuss what Heero had said about Duo.

“So, what exactly did you say about Duo developing a fondness for Remilia, Quatre?” Heero became the first to ask.

“The way Duo looks at Remilia indicated what I had said,” Quatre replied, not seeing what the problem is.

“The way Duo looks at her?” Trowa repeated. “Duo’s the type to befriend just about anybody. That’s just the way he is. We all know that.”

“Yes, granted, we haven’t been in this dimension for long; up to three-and-a-half hours, at least,” Quatre continued. “But look at Duo and Remilia. They’ve already established a special bond with each other. Besides, Remilia’s a nice girl; I’m sure she would believe us if we’ve told her about our… current situation.”

Heero folded his arms to his chest. “And on the off-chance she does not?”

“‘Eyyyyyyyy we’re back.”

The three Gundam pilots turned their heads to Duo and Remilia, deciding to end their conversation for now and continue it with Duo sometime later.

“You got yourselves registered?” Quatre asked.

“Yup!” replied Duo with an enthusiastic grin. “Gonna have my first taste of Pokémon battlin’!”

“Neither one of us has any experience with Pokémon battles,” said Heero, being realistic. “Much less being experts on them.”

“Hey I’ll take ‘em where I can get ‘em.”

“Besides, I was gonna offer Duo a crash course on Pokémon battling,” said Remilia with a smirk and a wink. “We’re set for our turn twenty minutes from now.”

“What of the teams you’re using?” asked Trowa.

“I’ll be using my Ledian, Salazzle and Primarina. Duo here will be using my Mismagius, Butterfree and Absol. And yes, all six are registered. The last two are put in my PC box for the time being.”

Duo had to bite his tongue from asking what a PC box is, lest he might earn another icy death glare from Heero, or worse, yanking on his braid.

“I see,” said Quatre.

“You have no freaking idea just how pumped I am right now,” said Duo. “I’m most definitely ready for anything.”

Just as he said those words, something large came up behind him (unbeknownst to the others) let out a light hiss, its forked tongue lightly touching his light brown hair. As soon as he felt the sensation, the Deathscythe Hell pilot let out a blood-curdling scream--gaining attention from the crowd--and very swiftly backed himself up to a vending machine, slamming his back against the glass and planting his fingers on the edges of the machine, visibly shaking and whimpering from his triggered ophidiophobia.* 

The boys and their female friend were registering what they had just witnessed, not knowing whether to break out in hysterics or shake their heads and sigh.

“What in the world caused him to scream like that?” asked Trowa as he rubbed inside his ear to massage it of the pain from hearing Duo’s shrill scream.

“This is the first time in a long while I’ve seen him genuinely scared by something,” Quatre commented. “What caused him to react this way?”

“I think I found the answer!” said Remilia excitedly.

Curious about her tone of voice, the three boys turned in the direction she was facing, only to have their jaws nearly dropped at what they’re seeing just now. Right in front of Remilia is a giant, purple cobra with black-and-red patterns in its hood. Quatre was just about to faint, with Trowa wrapping his arms around his chest underneath his armpits to keep him steady, whilst Heero looked _genuinely_ disturbed.

“Sorry, did my Arbok scare you?” a young woman who looks older than any of them said. “He doesn’t mean it, it’s just in his species’ nature.”

“Ohhhh myyy gooooooob, it’s an Arbok, I haven’t seen one in a long time!” Remilia said excitedly as she bounced up and down.

“That thing is an Arbok?” asked Trowa as he is trying to keep Quatre steady.

The young woman, who has short brown hair, hazel brown eyes and wearing a pink tank top and brown shorts and open-toe sandals, blinked once at them, confused. “You guys have never seen an Arbok before? What kind of back-water region did you guys come from, anyway?”

“They’re actually from Unova,” Remilia explained. “I don’t actually know if the Arbok line is native to it. Can I pet it, please?”

“Sure,” the woman replied, stepping aside. “My Arbok likes being petted by just about anyone.”

Remilia reached her hand up to the top of the Arbok’s head and stroked the purple scales. The Arbok purred lightly as it pushed its head within Remilia’s palm, taking in the feeling, closing its eyes and occasionally slipping out its forked tongue..

The boys, meanwhile, simply stood there looking flabbergasted at the scene displaying before them. Heero had relaxed his face somewhat, but Trowa’s still working on getting Quatre back into consciousness. Heero then decided it would be best to get to were Duo was apparently cowering and try to pry him from the vending machine he just backed up to.

He slipped away from the group--remnants of Remilia’s enthusiasm for petting an Arbok, as it is called--and walked towards the braided pilot, who’s shaking in near-complete fear, indigo eyes wide, seemingly unaware of the rest of his surroundings. Until Heero approaches him, his usual neutral expression on his face.

“Aren’t you going to join back with us?” he asked him.

“I’m not goin’ over here if that big-ass cobra is still out there!” Duo yelled. “There’s no way hell I’m gonna touch that thing even with my thermal scythe!”

“Remilia’s petting it right now, so that Arbok won’t even hurt you.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass snakes are fucking gross!”

“And you also have that Pokémon battling crash course. Well, Remilia’s only going to cover the basics, anyway.”

Upon remembering that just now, Duo then manages to calm himself down, but his body is still tense from being spooked by that Arbok. His fear of regular snakes is bad enough as it is, but coming face-to-face with a monstrous serpent known as an Arbok? He would rather be spared with the humiliation of wetting his jodhpurs than be stuck in a room with that beast (albeit with the wet jodhpurs).

“Now are you going to come over here or continue being a pussy and be absorbed into the vending machine like it’s a monolith?” Heero deadpanned.

Frowning and puffing his cheeks slightly in a pout, Duo slowly eased himself off of the metallic shell and straightened himself out. His indigo eyes darted towards the woman with the brown hair, who summoned Arbok back into her ball. At the very least, he can walk up back to the group alongside Heero in peace.

Remilia noticed Heero and Duo approaching and curved her waist and jutted out her hip, with a smirk on her face. “Finally gotten over your scare of an Arbok, Duo?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Duo replied begrudgingly.

“Eh, can’t say I blame you. Arbok are pretty scary, especially with the patterns in their hoods. I think the Arbok line is pretty cool, largely because I think it’s pre-evolution Ekans is kind of cute with its small beady eyes and rounded mouth.”

_It’s official, she’s a freak,_ Duo thought. “So, how’s about that crash course?”

“We should have plenty of time. Let’s go, Duo!”

Both Remilia and Duo walked over to the cafe area, with Remilia pulling out a rather irate Rotom ‘Dex from her ruffled bag. She threatened Rotom with dismantling it with a screwdriver and the former promptly kept quiet and proceeded to educate Duo a little on the Pokémon Remilia provided for him, the moves she has taught them, and their type advantages and disadvantages.

After fifteen minutes, a female voice came to life on the intercom. “Numbers 463 and 464, please come to the arena within three minutes. 463 and 464 to the arena in three minutes.”

“That’s our number,” said Remilia as she picked herself up off the chair, which made a scraping sound as she did so.

Duo did the same. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s have a fun time!”

“Yeah! Rotom, I would prefer if you would stay here and keep the guys company.”

“You got it! Zzzzt!” said Rotom.

“You three can stay here if you want. You can grab a bite to eat while you’re watching the battle on the TV screen.”

“I guess we should,” replied Quatre with hesitance in his voice. He and the other pilots would really like to get themselves something to eat, but unfortunately, neither of them have the money in this world they’re in, much less their knowledge of the currency that’s only exclusive to this dimension.

Remilia sensed this with the boys and asked, “Neither of you have any money, do you?”

“No, unfortunately.” _We actually don’t have what you would call Pokédollars, in fact._

Remilia sighed and dug out her Espeon-themed wallet. She dug around for a few seconds before producing three cash bills--two salmon-colored, the other a bluish-green--and gave them to the blond boy. “There’s 4,500 total. That should be more than enough to get yourselves some treats or a late lunch.”

Quatre took the bills from her hand. “Thank you.”

“Anytime. Duo and I should be going now. We’ll definitely score a victory.”

“Good luck.”

With a bright smile on her face, Remilia and Duo left the boys alone with Rotom while they go and get some snacks for themselves. 

Quatre looked at the two 2,000 bills and 500 and made a comment that it might equate to forty-five credits, with Heero also taking note that the letter “P” has two lines cutting through to the lower body, similar to the yen symbol.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Battle Royal Arena*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

The corridor was heavily dim, the only sounds heard is the clamping of Remilia’s trekking shoes and Duo’s boots and the white noise of a crowd cheering for the upcoming contenders. No matter how many times she’s been in the Battle Royal before, Remilia will never tire of the crowds cheering and whooping; in the end, all she ever cared about was the battle, not the outcome, and the thrill of it all. She’s sure Duo might be feeling the same, despite having never actually battled before.

Eventually, the highly contrasting light came into view, only stopping just before to blend in with the darkness and wait for the announcer. 

“You got your team ready, right?” Remilia asked her braided friend.

Duo turned to her to answer. “Yup, I do. And I’m ready to rock.”

The pink-haired girl smiled. “You know something? So do I.”

“The contenders are,” said the female announcer. “Pokémon Trainer Remilia and Uni Student Duo!”

The pair walked out of the corridor and into the bright lights. Duo took the time to make some observations of the Battle Royal Arena. It looked no different than a wrestling or boxing arena, including the corridors and ring, except that the corridors happened to have arches in the models of different dragons and different colors. The same goes for the corners in the arena ring.

They eventually arrived towards a wheeled platform with well-placed steps to get onto it. Thankfully, the wheels are locked, so there was no risk of the platform being rolled around by accident.

Duo and Remilia stepped onto the platform, both basking with the cheers and shouts and cries of the people that have come to watch the multi-battle tournament. He hoped that the other boys would be watching him and Remilia battle on the television in the cafe area.

“Next in the ring is Ace Trainer Laurence and Rising Star Juliet!”

Two more people also stepped up the platform in front of the opposite side of the ring. They appear to be about Remilia’s age. The boy, Laurence, has blonde hair with sideswept bangs that cover most of his eye, a blue stylized sleeveless hoodie and cargo pants and sneakers, and black fingerless gloves with blue cuffs on them. The black girl named Juliet has a green outfit consisting of a green short-sleeved dress shirt with a tie, a pleated skirt and green sneakers. As with Laurence, her bangs are sideswept, except it covers half of her opposite eye, as well as having a cornrow bun. Laurence looked solemn, but Juliet, she looked really smug. A trait that Remilia naturally despises in Trainers. Or other people for that matter.

“Let’s go! Battle Royal, begin!”

♫♩*~Battle! Gym Leader - Pokémon X and Y~*♫♩

Remilia unzipped her fanny pack and took out a Poké Ball with an Eevee tail sticker on and enlarged it. Duo his respective one, which is pink and has a purple band and button around it (Remilia stated that this is a Heal Ball) and enlarged it was well.

“Kai, let’s go!” shouted Remilia as she threw her Poké Ball into the ring, releasing a ladybug creature with long antennae, four black arms with white hands clenched into fists, black legs with feet, and large slanted eyes.

“Isabelle, I’m counting on you!” shouted Duo as well as he did the same. The Heal Ball released a purple witch-like ghost creature with red eyes, a jagged cat-like smile and slightly desaturated pink tips of her “hands,” “hat,” and borders around her “cloak.”

“Come on, Glaceon!” Juliet shouted.

“Boldore, take the stage!” Laurence yelled.

Both Trainers released a blue fennec fox-like creature with large blue eyes and a darker blue rock creature with three legs, odd-looking eyes and appears to be covered in reddish-orange crystal.

Duo’s eyes widened. He remembered that Flying is weak to Ice and Rock, and Bug is also weak to Rock. Rock could be four times as effective to Bug/Flying, as is the dual typing of Kai the Ledian.

“Kai, Isabelle,” Remilia began. “Simply focus on the opponent straight in front of you. Duo and myself will give you the commands, even if you two are my own Pokémon, so for the time being, Isabelle, Duo will be your Trainer. Listen to everything he says. I’ve given him the run-down on your moveset.”

“Um, Remilia?” Duo started to ask.

“Don’t worry, Duo.” She turned her head to face him. “Kai has coverage moves that I taught him.”

“‘Coverage?’”

“You’ll see.”

“Glaceon, Icy Wind!” Juliet commanded to her Pokémon.

“Boldore, use Smack-down!” Laurence did as well.

Glaceon blowed a breath of icy cold air, intending to hit Kai. Boldore, meanwhile, lifted up its front leg and threw a reddish-orange crystal at Isabelle.

“Kai! Light Screen!” Remilia barked.

Kai spread all six of his limbs out and his antennae vibrated lightly, being enveloped in a very faint rainbow aura. A glassy rainbow plane materialized and succeeded in blocking the opposing Glaceon’s Icy Wind.

“Isabelle, dodge!” Duo shouted at the Mismagius.

Isabelle quickly floated to the one side, with Duo just barely getting himself out of the way in time for the crystal to bounce off the rope he was standing behind.

“Use Will-o-Wisp, and try to ram yourself into the Boldore, high speed!”

Little bluish-white flames suddenly materialized around Isabelle and floated towards the tip of her “hat” in an eternal spiral and made a mad dash towards the opposing Boldore.

“Dodge it!” Laurence screamed as he saw the opposing Mismagius charging towards the Boldore at full speed.

Boldore did as her master had said, but it was already too late; the Mismagius was too fast for her and the Will-o-Wisp grazed against her, leaving light scorch marks on her very rocky surface. Boldore winced as she tried to move, but that Mismagius was quite strong.

Isabelle quickly disappeared and returned, making herself visible again, to the braided boy, materializing later, the blue flames quickly extinguished.

Remilia witness the scene with wide eyes. “Did you actually command Isabelle to do what she did just now? She’s not a strong physical attacker, you know.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Duo replied. “That Boldore’s faster than I once thought.”

“Never underestimate your opponent, Duo. Try to remember that.”

“Now where have I heard that before…?”

“Pardon?”

“Just talking to myself, no biggie.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Battle Royal Dome Lobby Cafe*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Trowa and Quatre was watching the battle unfold on the overhead television with great interest, eating their respective snacks and drinks. While Quatre was uncomfortable with the premise of Pokémon battling because it involved them hurting each other for sport, due to his love for animals, but he will admit, it is rather exciting; that’s only because Duo and Remilia are in the ring, fighting their assigned opponents. Admittedly, he did express surprise that a ghost and pile of rocks would count as animals in this dimension, but Trowa speculated that they are categorized as such just because they’re Pokémon.

Heero, meanwhile, wasn’t paying any attention to what was happening on the television, nor was he paying any mind to Trowa and Quatre’s discussion of what could be considered as animals or not. He was busying himself by studying the various Pokémon in the Alola region. Rotom was kind enough to educate the Wing Zero pilot a little bit on these creatures. The most interesting ones he has found so far were the fish Pokémon Magikarp and Wishiwashi. Remilia told them that they were common prey for any fish-eating Pokémon such as the Primarina line, but apparently, both are treasured foodstuffs for people around the world, including Alola. He also learned that the Magikarp are at the least risk for overfishing due to their extremely high fertility rate and because of this, there is almost no limit to how many you can fish up and get transported for human consumption. What Heero found odd, though, was that people can have these Pokémon on their teams; he wondered if it was because of their battle potential. After all, it did say on the Pokédex that Magikarp evolve into Gyarados whilst the Wishiwashi--while having no evolution of their own--has a “school” form that is apparently vicious and more threatening than even a Gyarados. Heero would have to agree with Trowa on this one: the sciences behind this world is really, really strange.

Backing out of the Pokédex and onto the main menu, Heero’s eye caught an icon in similar shape of the Pokédex icon, except it’s colored green. Frowning slightly, the icon title read “UB Database.” Curious, Heero tapped on it with his finger, only to be met with a powdery blue window with black text against it reading “Please enter your password.”

Before Heero could think any further, Rotom suddenly appeared, causing his head to back out in surprise. “Whaddya think you’re doing, zzzt?”

“I was just curious on what this ‘UB Database’ might be,” replied Heero nonchalantly.

“Sorry, spandex boy, that’s for me and Remilia to know and for you to spend the rest of your dayzz boo-hooin’ ‘cuzzz you’ll never find out, zt! Besidezzzz, I was instructed by Remilia to scramble the pazzword she applied to this databaze every few minutes zo you’ll have no luck getting into it, bucko!”

_And I suppose attempting to hack into the database is out of the question,_ Heero thought forlornly. “I won’t press any further, then.”

“Thatzzzz what I thought! Zzzt! You wanna study more Pokémon, bucko? my ‘Dex has everything you might need, zzt: moves, types, Pokémon habitats, everything, my friend!”

Heero exhaled. “Might as well. This UB Database doesn’t seem important to me, anyway.” He took a sip of his smoothie, which is apparently Nanab and Sitrus Berry mixed in with yogurt made from Moomoo Milk, according to the menu. He had to admit, this smoothie actually tastes great; better than the smoothies in his and his fellow pilots’ home dimension, even. He suddenly wondered if the food Trowa and Quatre are eating right now are just as delicious.

Quatre was eating a Rawst and Cheri Berry sticky bun whilst Trowa was just eating an Oran Berry bagel with Pecha Berry jam spread on the two slices. Both of them have an iced decaf Komala coffee. Heero had looked up Komala on the Rotom ‘Dex. The Komala species is apparently born asleep (Heero wished he was surprised, given the fact that the species name has “coma” in it), and was given a small log at birth, so naming this coffee after an eternally comatose Pokémon is somewhat ironic.

“Wow, both of those creatures are fast!” Quatre said breathlessly as he and Trowa are watching the television.

“You mean Remilia and Duo or their opponents called Laurence and Juliet?” questioned Trowa.

“I’m talking about the ladybug and ghost-witch creatures.”

“I think you mean Ledian and Mismagius,” said Heero, having subconsciously decided to join in on the conversation.

The Heavyarms and Sandrock pilots looked at him.

“Ledian is categorized as the Five-Star Pokémon and the evolution of Ledyba. Mismagius is categorized as the Magical Pokémon and the evolution of Misdreavus with the use of a Dusk Stone.”

“Quatre and I get the picture,” said Trowa. _Although I have to wonder what those guys mean by “Five-Star.” “Magical” I can understand because of its witch-like appearance._

“Ledian,” Quatre repeated as he sipped his iced coffee. Then he chuckled lightly. “Sounds a bit similar to Lady Une, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she used a Ledian as her right-hand Pokémon.”

“I was only repeating information from the Pokédex,” said Heero.

“Nobody’s against what you’re doing, Heero,” replied Quatre as he took another sip. “In fact, we’re all running around in the dark about what this world even is.” He decided to say no more as Rotom is still present. True, it’s an A.I., albeit in Pokémon form (for lack of a better term), but it’s just as capable of listening and talking and feeling emotions as any human being would, and it likely might pry into their conversation.

“Ooh, and Mismagius surprised the opposing Boldore with its Hex!” the female announcer said, quickly regaining the attention of Trowa and Quatre, as well as getting Heero’s for the first time. “What could Boldore dish out in its next turn?”

“Looks like Duo and Remilia are having fun,” Quatre commented. 

“I agree,” replied Trowa. “They actually do make a pretty good team the more I look at them.”

“Yeah, they’re also so similar in personality. It’s almost as if they’re long-lost siblings or something, discounting Remilia wavy pink-brown hair.”

Heero wordlessly listened in to his two comrades’ newest conversation. He could only pray that neither Duo nor Remilia form an emotional connection between them; he’d rather just forget about it and try to get himself, the boys, and their Gundams back home. The sooner it’s done, the better.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Battle Royal Arena~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Pokémon multi-battle raged on with Duo and Remilia versus Laurence and Juliet, and their respective Pokémon: Kai the Ledian and Isabelle the Mismagius on Duo and Remilia’s side with Laurence’s Boldore and Juliet’s Glaceon on the other. Isabelle just decked the opposing Boldore with her Hex attack, while Kai managed to endure the opposing Glaceon’s Quick Attack with his Reflect and eventually does his Brick Break on him. The Glaceon dodged, but the ensuing attack grazed his upper body, causing some damage. Juliet barked at her Glaceon to use Ice Fang. Glaceon complied, coating his canines in a glowing icy blue. Seeing the blue glow, Remilia barked her Ledian to dodge. Kai did as he was ordered to, but the opposing Glaceon, despite the damaging graze from Kai’s Brick Break, was as fast as he is, and dug his fangs into his lower right fist, causing the male Ledian to buzz loudly in pain.

Remilia let out a frightened grunt at the scene she is witnessing. All of her instincts are screaming at her to get Kai immediately out of the ring and back into his Poké Ball. Instead, Remilia shouted, “BRICK BREAK! With your free hands!”

Kai did as commanded and struck the Glaceon onto his head, and hard. The Glaceon really felt the damage and released Kai from his icy bite in pain.

“Kai, come over here!” Remilia called.

Kai flew towards his Trainer and sat on the upper rope, closing his wing covers. Remilia took a careful examination on her Ledian’s lower right fist. It showed the beginning stages of being frozen solid, but thankfully, it’s nothing hazardous. She thinks it’s high time for her and Kai to put up a little display of their own. “All right, Kai, you can go back in now.”

The ladybug-like Pokémon opened up his wing covers, fluttering his clear wings, and floated himself back into the ring, landing carefully due to the injury of his lower right fist.

Duo, meanwhile, was having a lot of fun the Mismagius that had been given to him. The ghost-witch Pokémon was obeying him with ease, even though Remilia is her permanent Trainer. Although it wasn’t having a Pokémon of his own that was fun; it’s the fact that it was him messing with the other guy’s Boldore, making Isabelle do disappearing acts purely for the purpose of fucking with it is what makes it all the more fun. It reminded him far too much of his time as a Gundam pilot, especially his Gundam Deathscythe Hell. He would disappear in the shadows, reappear, strike, and disappear again. It was way too much fun for him; he was seeing it happening again.

Suddenly, Duo felt a tinge of pain in his head. He automatically placed his hand onto his head and the other onto the rope. He took heavy breaths, in an effort to will the pain away.

Remilia took notice of this as she turned her towards her braided friend. “Duo, are you all right?” She let out a small gasp as she noticed little black crystals growing from his knuckles. _What in the--?_

Duo heard her voice and replied, “I’m fine, Remilia, just felt a passing headache.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that,” the pink-haired Trainer replied. “I can forfeit this match now so you can rest.”

“Nuh-uh, no way. I can go on.”

Remilia decided it would be best to shut her mouth at this point. Although she was mostly concerned about Duo’s well-being (plus the black crystals growing out of his skin), she and Duo have a match to finish, but she will forfeit future matches for the sake of Duo’s health. “Hey, Duo, you wanna see something cool?”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Just watch and see.”

Remilia detached her Fairium Z from her white Z-Ring and exchanged the Fightinium Z fitting snugly on the front of her thigh with her black leg band, replacing it with the Fairium Z. She then attached the Fightinium Z into the parallelogram-shaped indent, when which it briefly glowed a bright orange.

She then brought her left hand far from her face, spreading out her fingers. “This Z-Crystal of mine is burning red!” she raised her voice. “Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory!”

Remilia spread her legs apart and crossed her arms together and closed her fists very briefly. “Z-Power! All-Out!” She then circled her arms in opposite directions and strut them out, crossing them horizontally. “Pummelling!” Bending her hips slightly, she made several punching moves rather quickly. “Sekiha! Tenkyoken!” Her last punch was made with more force than her previous ones. The glow emitting from the orange Z-Crystal awhile suddenly flew and enveloped itself around Kai, and the Five-Star Pokémon seemed to have welcomed it.

Duo suddenly felt his body tingle and placed his hand on his head again. Remilia is right, he had been having bouts of headaches twice in a row, except that this time, it wasn’t actual pain. Something tinged within his heart and brain, but he doesn’t know what it is. Upon witnessing Remilia do… whatever it is she’s done, he felt… excited? Well, actually, what he and Remilia are doing right now is exciting enough as it is, but the excitement he had felt was almost… feral?

Kai, meanwhile, suddenly let out several punches towards the opposing Glaceon and Boldore, all four fists coated in a glowing orange light. All of those made contact with both of the Pokémon, which created looks of shock and dread on Laurence and Juliet’s faces. Kai made the last punch, which was actually effective in knocking out Boldore and Glaceon.

Duo was able to recover enough to witness the scene before him, mouth slightly open, indigo eyes wide as dessert plates. He had no idea what the heck just happened. Or maybe, he had no freaking idea of _how_ it was even executed. Absolutely no amount of science can even explain all that.

Laurence and Juliet were in much of a shock as Duo. Except that none of them ever anticipated their opponent using a Z-Move of all things in the first round.

“The opposing Boldore and Glaceon are unable to battle!” the female announcer said over the loudspeaker, but Laurence and Juliet were too much in their own shock to care to listen. “The winner goes to Kai and Isabelle!”

As the crowd cheered on, Kai flew back over to his pink-haired Trainer and the latter gave him a hug, with the Five-Star Pokémon reciprocating with a happy buzz, watching his near-frozen fist.

“You did it, Kai!” said Remilia as she held her Bug Pokémon, her breasts lightly pressed against his torso. “You came through with your injury!” She reached to her back pocket and produced Kai’s Poké Ball. “I think it’s high time you rest. I’ll have your fist fixed up when all this is over.”

The red light from Kai’s Poké Ball engulfed him until he became a red silhouette and got absorbed through the button. She was about to get her other one containing her next Pokémon out, but Duo approached her with a huge grin on her face, indigo eyes twinkling in excitement and awe. Remilia guessed she couldn’t blame him; Duo’s not a Pokémon Trainer, so this might be his first time witnessing a Z-Move.

“That was so fracking awesome!” Duo exclaimed. “What you did just now, you like, emulated Broly’s face palm attack in Dragon Ball?!”

“Who?” Remilia replied.

Duo’s excitement instantly faded away. “Oh. Was the mantra all made-up, then?”

Remilia simply smirked. “Ohhh-ho-ho-hohhhhhh nooooooooo.”

“Then, where did--?”

“The mantra came from a kickass shounen/mecha anime, which is one of my favorites! Those genres are crazy awesome!”

Duo blinked once. Then he smirked. “You wanna know what I think?” He planted his hand on Remilia’s seed-patterned trucker cap. “I think you’re a nerd.”

Remilia leaned in with the touch. “And proud of it, no doubt.”

“Come on, nerd.” The braided boy lifted his hand off. “We have a multi-battle to finish.”

“Yep, we do. Isabelle, you’re still good to go?”

The Mismagius gave a ghostly purr, her tone indicating affirmation.

“Okay, good.” Remilia produced a Poké Ball that’s a different color scheme than her other Poké Balls and Heal Ball. The bottom half is white, but the top half his black with yellow lines that resemble the letter “H.”

“Shayde, now’s your turn!” Remilia threw the ball into the ring, which released a black-and-dark purple feminine-looking, dragon-lizard hybrid of a Pokémon with hot pink flame-shaped markings on its chest and groin on her dark purple underbelly and lilac eyes. 

Laurence and Juilet summoned their respective Pokémon back into their balls and sent out Goodra (Laurence) and a female Frillish (Juliet).

Duo snorted. “Those are some weird-lookin’ Pokémon if ya ask me!”

“Well, in _my_ opinion, I think they’re adorable,” Remilia retorted.

“Whatev. Let’s continue on with the show!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In the Farthest Upper Corner of the Battle Royal Bleachers~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mysterious individuals, Phyco and Soliera, are hiding within the shadows, away from prying eyes, witnessing the multi-battle. So far, they had managed to sneak into the lobby and through to the bleachers without arousing too much suspicion. They had watched the battle with great interest; although they find the concept of Pokémon battling intriguing as they and their species had done it sometimes, that was not the real reason why they are here to observe. No, they are here for something else entirely.

The entire time Phyco and Soliera watched, their visor-covered eyes focused on the two individuals before them; namely the braided boy beside the pink-haired girl, of whom she is of no concern to them. The readings on their visors had spiked when the pink-haired girl used her Z-Power; this power was similar to the deity they had called “the Blinding One.” At the same time, they also noticed that the braided boy had a peculiar reaction to that power used. If their theory is true, then the braided boy and the other short-haired boy might be the “two halves of the key” they had been searching for.

Phyco produced a small rectangular device with a meter and a dial on the front of it. “There is only one way to find out. This device is especially built to mimic the psychic waves of the Blinding One. I am quite confident that this boy is the one half of the key.”

“The girl beside him,” Soliera observed. “If she attempts to interfere, then she will have to be eliminated.”

“True,” Phyco replied.

He then turned the dial very slightly, intent on testing out his theory and see if the readings on the device match the aura readings on his and his partner’s visors.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the two individuals and their ulterior motives, it was Duo and Remilia versus Juliet and Laurence yet again, with new Pokémon in the ring sans Isabelle the Mismagius. Differing attacks of different types clashed against each other, in an amazing display of beams of light, spouts of flame and shots of darkness. Duo noticed that Remilia’s Salazzle--named Shadye--has speed that rivalled that of Isabelle’s, if not faster. He knows that Shayde is at a type disadvantage against the opposing Frillish (he theorized that the Frillish is a Water-type, because it looks vaguely like a jellyfish given its very moist skin), but Shayde’s faster than Frillish and even Isabelle, so it should be okay?

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

Suddenly, Duo let out a shriek as he felt as if his body had been shot from behind. He fell to his knees and clutched his head with his hands, screaming in agony. All at once, multiple feral voices were screaming, whispering, shrieking at him in his brain, slowly starting to bring him to physical control.

Remilia, having heard the loud yell from her partner, twirled her head to him, her pink-brown locks swishing around with the movement of her neck, her look of surprise and horror evident on her face. Sending a quick prayer that Shayde would be all right on her own, she walked up to Duo. “Duo? Duo, what’s going on with you?! Are you okay?!”

Her blue eyes suddenly darted towards the small black crystals growing from Duo’s knuckles. To her shock, they were slowly growing out of his skin as well as a fresh, jagged one jutting out from his elbow.

In the darkness, Phyco and Soliera let out a small but satisfied smile. They had finally found what they have been looking for after searching all this time. The first half of the “key,” the braided boy; the other half, the short-haired boy. 

Remilia knelt down to her friend, unsure of what to do, her ears hurting from his screams of agony. (She also detected a hint of… malice?) She watched Duo’s head crane up, and her heart leapt up to her throat as she saw the look on Duo’s face. It was of pure ferality and anger, but this isn’t what was scaring her a little: Duo’s indigo eyes were changed to a swirling mixture of dark colors, almost like a rainbow.

Inside Duo’s mind screamed and whispered one word.

_“Light…”_

♫♩*~Ambush ~ Seized Battle - Unknown~*♫♩

Duo suddenly threw himself onto Remilia before she could even get a chance to wonder what the hell is going on; his fairly large hands pressing on her thin wrists against the metallic platform. With quick thinking, however, she was able to hit his groin as hard as she could with her shin, making Duo recoil in pain.

Swiftly, Remilia scrambled from underneath Duo and off the platform. She saw Isabelle and Shayde fly and run towards her, having heard their master being attacked. Unfortunately, it also meant that Duo was lunging towards her at near-blinding speed, but Shayde was slightly quicker. She’s of a smaller height than either Duo or Remilia, but the Salazzle was able to wrap her long slender black fingers around his wrists in an effort to hold him at bay.

Grateful at her Pokémon for their quick thinking (if not that, then it’s their loyalty and protectiveness towards their master), she swiftly unzipped her fanny pack and rummaged around in their for the Poké Ball she was looking for, suddenly remembering that Duo has a few of the Pokémon she desperately needs. With a quick exhale, she zipped up her fanny pack and produced the Poké Ball that contained Brynja and threw it up as high as she could in the air to let her out, barking at her to pound Duo with her tail to knock him out. As soon as Brynja the Primarina was out in the open, she positioned her tail and used her white tail fins to thwap Duo right on the head, her weight and the momentum of the physical hit effectively knocking him out, with Brynja flipping backwards and landing on her front flippers to soften her fall as much as she could and Shadye moving out of the way of Duo’s fall.

As soon as the braided boy fell unconscious, Remilia took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, ignoring the shocked gasps and murmurs of the crowd. Even Laurence and Juilet had no idea what in the world just went on! Then she jogged towards the out-cold figure, lying on the concrete floor. She knelt down and turned him to his back, touching his cheek with her fingers. The skin felt a little cold. She hoped Heero, Quatre and Trowa would be down here ASAP, as well as a few medics.

And it seems like most of her prayers had been answered as she saw Quatre, Trowa and Heero (who was staggering behind as usual) running up towards them. Now she has to wait for the medics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reference to a different Gundam series other than the one you're reading now. Can you people guess what it is? ;)
> 
> Also, both Ledian and Lady Une have the same katakana for their names: レディアン (Redian) レディ・アン (Redi An) Some food for thought. ;)


	7. Infection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~ Now we get to see Quatre in action! ;)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Heahea Hospital*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

The waiting room was very quiet, but the silence, in a way, was welcoming. It also gives these four teenagers the atmosphere of what just went on during the Battle Royal multi-battle match. Heero, Trowa and Quatre were taken aback of some mysterious power that enveloped Kai which won Remilia and Duo their first round, admittedly, but what had happened next brought a complete shock to all of them.

They had seen Duo writhe and yell in pain on the television screen at the cafe, with Remilia trying to help him out only to get pushed down by him, who was apparently in a near-feral state. Immediately, the three pilots got up from their seats, and rushed to the arena to assist their fellow Gundam pilot in any way they can.

The midst of all the excitement and worry, they all noticed several black spots on Duo’s hands that look vaguely crystal-like. Quatre also was the only one who noticed two strange individuals that were hiding in the shadows, but they quickly disappeared by the time he got a careful look.

Eventually, a tall, middle-aged nurse stepped into the waiting room, which caught their attention (Trowa put down a magazine he was reading). Craning their necks up, Quatre became the first to ask. “How is he?”

“He’s resting at the moment,” the nurse explained. “Despite the force and impact of the hit, it is generally mild. Your friend has mostly returned to consciousness, complained about a headache, but it’s nothing all that serious.”

Remilia silently breathed a sigh of relief.

“Can we see him now?” Trowa had asked the nurse.

“Of course. Just follow me, please.”

Remilia, Heero, Trowa and Quatre all got up from their seats and followed her through the corridor, each holding their breaths.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Distant Day’s Promise - Namco x Capcom~*♫♩

Soon, everybody had gathered around Duo’s bed; true to the nurse’s word, Duo was full conscious, albeit with a “monster headache,” as he put it. Heero stated that the braided pilot needs to rest for a bit, which earned him a groan. He really hates sitting around doing nothing, because he gets bored easily. Remilia can shamelessly relate.

“How are you feeling, actually, Duo?” asked Quatre. “Remilia told us that you were like a, um…” He turned to Remilia. “What was it you said, Remilia?”

“She said he was like hormonally-charged Gyarados during their mating season,” Heero replied in his usual monotone.

Laughter soon filled the room. Even Trowa was snickering a little. This, however, confused the Wing Zero pilot. “What?”

“It’s the way you speak, Heero,” Remilia said through her giggles. “You repeated what I said earlier and it came out like that; that’s why everybody’s laughing.”

Duo rubbed his head after laughing hard several times and taking deep breaths. “Somebody’s gonna be a narrator for a nature documentary in the future. He’s no David Attenborough, but with that monotone voice everybody would roll over.”

“More like roll over and fall asleep,” Remilia pitched.

“Yeah, that, too. Oww…”

Everybody sans Duo turned their heads as soon as they heard a knock on the door. 

“I’ll get it,” said Remilia as she approached the door.

She opened it to let a Chansey in the room. The Chansey was wearing a traditional nurse’s apron and cap holding a small tray consisting of a very small paper cup of white pills and a paper cup of water. She turned back to the other boys with a smile on her face. “Looks like your prayers have been answered, Duo.”

The pilots stared weirdly at this pink, egg-shaped creature holding the tray as it approached it. Remilia stood aside for the creature as it walked towards Duo with the pain medicine and water. Considering the surprise looks on their faces, she wondered if they ever saw a Chansey before. Then again, Chansey are extremely rarely-seen in the wild, much less caught outside of hospice and Pokémon care, so she decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and let it go for the time being.

“Come on, the Chansey won’t bite,” said Remilia. “Unless you, like, piss it off or something.”

“Thanks for the assurance, Remilia,” said Duo sarcastically as he took the medicine reluctantly (although it’s less of the fact that a Pokémon was helping than the bad memories of being a prisoner of war at an OZ facility at the moon base) and swallowed it whole with the water.

He put the plastic cup back on the tray and tossed the paper cup he crumbled into the trash bin nearest to him. The Chansey bowed politely and walked towards the door as Remilia opened it for it as it walked through.

The pink-haired girl closed the door and walked back towards the hospital bed. “Now. Onto a slightly more pressing issue.”

“On a different topic,” Duo cut in. “That thing is a Chansey right?”

“It is,” Remilia replied. “Chansey are very rare in the wild, and they are fast runners. It’s been said that those who come across one in the wild will bring good luck upon seeing it.”

The Deathscythe pilot blinked once as he took in the information, albeit with a grain of salt. “That thing brings good luck to the person that has seen it.”

“That’s what I have heard and been told.”

“Although that doesn’t explain why there would be a Chansey working in a hospice,” said Trowa.

“There are also Chansey working in Pokémon Centers,” said Remilia. “Usually they’re there to assist with the healing of and nursing ill or injured Pokémon back to health. The news of Chansey appearing in hospitals is actually very recent, said to have a soothing effect on patients, children especially. They’re all known as the ‘mothering and nurturing Pokémon.’ Comfey also work, for what purpose, I have yet to look up.

“With all that being said though, I did say that there was another slightly pressing issue. Namely, your hands.”

“My hands?” Duo asked. He lifted one up let out a shocked gasp. There were black crystals growing from his knuckles, backs of his hands, wrists, and his elbows, all on both arms and hands. None of those were here before, aside from the small black spot on his wrist and he woke into consciousness in Lush Jungle. 

A growling, pulsating voice echoed within his mind, begging him to become feral again, but he fought the inner beast off successfully. Duo’s eyes met with Heero’s but, somehow, he could sense something was off about him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Unbeknownst to him, Heero could also sense something might be off from Duo, but it was different from Duo was feeling. He felt like he was being pulled towards him, but he fought the urge off. “I’m going to the bathroom,” he said, not caring of the odd looks he earned from the others.

“Seriously?” said Remilia, a little irritated. “Can’t it wait until we’re done here?”

“My body did not agree with the Nanab Berry smoothie I had.”

“You can go, Heero,” said Quatre. “There’s no rush.”

“I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

With those words, Heero swiftly left the room. Remilia was looking at Quatre weirdly, but decided not to press it.

Quatre, on the other hand, was glad to let Heero go and do his business. He had felt a slight but unnatural intensity in the air between him and Duo, Duo especially. He could sense something might be wrong with him, but like Heero and Duo, he couldn’t make out what might be wrong. He only made out that Duo was struggling internally, but for what reason?

Ignoring the arguments attempted from Remilia (too bad for her it was one-sided), Quatre stepped towards the window, the sunlight welcoming him, helping him relax a little. Suddenly, his aquamarine eyes darted to two people at the base of the hospital building. Knitting his blond brows together, it dawned on him that these people are the two mysterious individuals that were lurking in the shadows of the Battle Royal arena. Just what they were doing there and presently here? What are they here for and why?

Quatre moved away from the window and excused himself from the room. A slightly irritated Remilia demanded why him to leave the room as well, Quatre responded that he is going to smoke a couple rats out (Remilia corrected him stating what he meant as “Ratatta”--not that Quatre would care would they would call in this world). 

Soon, he exited out of the hospital and looked around to see if the two strangers are still here. To his relief, they are, except that they are walking away from the building. Disregarding the fact that they’re wearing strange full-body blue-and-white suits (one of which had jodhpurs not unlike Duo’s) and helmets of the same color scheme, Quatre jogged towards them, intent on finding out some information about and from them, feeling that they may have something to do with Duo suddenly going berserk at the Battle Royal arena.

♫♩*~Ultra Recon Squad Encounter~*♫♩

“Um, excuse me, you two?”

Phyco and Soliera stopped in their tracks and turned towards the person--who has blonde hair and looks younger than either of them--who called at them. 

“Yes, may we help you with something?” Phyco was the first to ask.

Quatre swallowed and gathered his thoughts together. “If I may ask, would you mind telling me what you were doing standing outside the hospital? Were you waiting for something?”

“Waiting for something?” Soliera repeated. “What exactly do you mean?”

Quatre exhaled, albeit shakily. “I believe I saw you in the Battle Royal arena not too long ago today.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” said Phyco. “In fact, we were just passing by this hospital, minding our own business.”

“You could have fooled me,” replied Quatre, voice lowering slightly. “I have a hunch that you might be the reason why my friend…” He decided not to say that Duo is currently in the hospital, otherwise these two strangers would enter and… God knows what might they do to him, not to mention what they might do to Heero as well. “Suddenly lost all control of himself.”

“And your point would be?” asked Phyco in a warning tone.

“My point is, and I am asking you, to leave my friend in peace. He wants nothing to do with you both, whatever it is you’re planning to do with him.”

Soliera simply grunted lightly. “You say that your friend wants nothing to do with us, but we have very much to do with him.”

Quatre stood defiantly at them. Those two are up to something, he just knows it. Given their visors, he couldn’t use his usual “puppy-dog eyes” on them, but even so, it wouldn’t be appropriate, given the current circumstances. He doesn’t doubt that Heero and Duo might be in some form of danger because of them.

“However,” Soliera continued. “We will say this only once: if you interfere with our goal, then the consequences will be dire. Do you understand?”

Quatre swallowed. “No. And I don’t want to. If you two leave my friend alone, then I can guarantee you will leave each other peacefully.”

“And if we refuse?” Phyco added.

Quatre rolled his lips slightly inward. If those two refuse, then what? The last he wants is to get into an altercation with the two of them; he’d much rather want to find a peaceful solution with them. Although considering the current circumstances he had put himself into, a peaceful solution is has already become for naught. “You are still not getting past me.”

Phyco exhaled. “Very well, then. Soliera?”

“As you wish, captain,” the blue-haired woman responded.

Soliera then produced a strange-looking, almost sci-fi Poké Ball not unlike Remilia’s, except that this Poké Ball is blue with a light blue glowing grid and two yellow arches on the top and bottom, each in a forty-five degree angle. Quatre swallowed. They’re not going to engage him in a Pokémon batle when he has no Pokémon of his own, are they? 

♫♩*~Battle! Ultra Recon Squad - Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon~*♫♩

Soliera threw the strange-looking Poké Ball up in the air. “Go! Poipole!”

The Poké Ball released a bright blue light, forming into a strange alien creature in different shades of purple, glowing blue eyes and mouth, a long tail, and needle-like appendages pointing vertically coming from the top of its head. It made a bubbling alien-like sound as soon as it’s released.

“There is no need for a Pokémon battle, you know,” said Quatre. “I highly suggest you put your Pokémon back into your ball and we can both walk away from this.”

“You’re the one who decided to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong,” Phyco countered coldly. “And the price of outside interference is high.”

Quatre stared at the creature apparently called Poipole, who was floating lazily around. He tried to be nice, they refused to negotiate or back down. So, he came down to a decision.

He produced two switchblades and pressed a switch on both of them, drawing out the chrome blades. The Sandrock pilot is by no means a skilled Trainer; even if he is, he is nowhere as skilled Remilia or the other Trainers he and the others encountered. Heck, even if that were the case, he refuses to have animals hurt other animals for sport, much less hurt an animal directly. But right now, it is pretty clear that those two have a very high intent to harm Duo in some way, and he would do anything to protect his dear friend

Quatre changed his holding position of the blades and spread his feet into a fighting stance. He doesn’t intend to harm the Poipole, but he was hoping that he would stall those two strangers for as long as he needs, and possibly warn Duo and the others when this nonsense is over.

“Poipole, use Fell Stinger!” Soliera commanded, apparently ignoring that the blond pilot has no Pokémon on him.

The Poipole directed its three needles towards Quatre, spun rapidly and shot towards him. Quatre luckily dodged and prepared himself to attack the Poipole, and swiftly came back towards him, although it slowed down in its revolution rate a little.

The Poipole then squirted out a glowing blue ooze, intending to hit Quatre, but the latter quickly moved out of the way, and only a decent-sized puddle of glowing blue ooze only laid there. Quatre didn’t dare to think about what type of ooze this is.

“Iron Tail!” Quatre heard Soliera say.

Poipole’s tail began to glow white and sprinted towards Quatre, but he managed to nick one of his blades against the alien Pokémon’s leftmost needle, chipping a bit of it off. The Poipole cried in pain, holding its head together as it moaned.

Quatre’s heart ached a little at the action done.  _ I’m so sorry, little one, _ he thought. They really did leave Quatre no choice.

He heard Soliera growl. “Poipole! Fell Stinger again!”

The Poipole managed to toughen out the pain enough to do as its master commanded. It positioned itself again to do its previous move and charge at Quatre, but Quatre managed to block the attack by crossing his two switchblades together, both creating a small shower of sparks. Quatre was also being mindful of the glowing blue puddle of ooze behind him, but he was being pushed back slightly against the force of the Poipole.

Very quickly, he managed to take his blade and slashed against the Poipole as lightly as possible, only wanting to break its skin. The Poipole cried out in pain, again, Quatre’s heart ached at the poor creature he was forced to fight against. 

Frustrated at the injury, the Poipole switched tactics and flew around the blond Gundam pilot, intending to confuse him. Whenever Quatre makes eye contact with it, it charges at him, only for him to dodge. Quatre tried to get a hit on it, but the Poipole was proving to be too fast for him. 

The cycle went on for a couple of minutes and Quatre was already at his wits’ end. He has no doubt that those two strangers are driving him into a corner, but Quatre’s not going to give up that easily. He is not going to let those two strangers anywhere near Duo, whatever it is they’re planning to do with them (and he can only guess none of those are good).

The Poipole squirted out more of the glowing blue ooze from its needles, despite the injury to one of them, but Quatre managed to move out of the way quickly. He charged at the alien-like Pokémon in order to lightly slash it, only for it to quickly evade his attack. That thing so fast; how in the world is he going to land another hit on it?

Quatre turned around to see where that Poipole went off to, not really anticipating what would happen next. The Poipole was in closer range this time, squirting out the glowing blue ooze at his face. Qautre started to move out of the way, but it was too late: a little bit of the ooze his right eye and some of his face. He dropped his switchblade--apparently forgotten--his right hand came in contact with the injury, until a burning sensation shot and bit at his hand, along with his face. Quatre yelled in pain as the ooze burned onto him. He tried to remove his hand, only to discover that the distance of pulling it away was limited; the ooze was apparently as sticky as glue. And it was burning at is face and hand. Just kind of ooze is this?

Pleased with their work, Soliera summoned the Poipole back into the Poké Ball. Although she would have preferred to have Quatre eliminated, she was sure that it would be slow and painful for him; Poipole’s sticky ooze is poisonous. It will eat away at his face until his skull and socket is exposed for all she Phyco would care.

“We told you the consequences will be dire if you interfere with us,” Phyco said coldly. “You refused to listen; this is what you deserve for the trouble you have caused us.”

“Shall we continue to follow the aura readings into the hospital, Captain Phyco?” asked Soliera. “I detect two of them in this building; I don’t know the exact location as of yet.”

“We will have to sneak in somehow. Let me think…”

Unbeknownst to them, Quatre was listening in. He was seething with rage after what Phyco and Soliera were saying. Not only are they going to go after Duo, but Heero too? Those two have no right to touch those two. But, he needs to wait for his chance to strike back first.

Making his movements as quiet as possible (all the while toughing himself out of the burning pain of his hand and face), he changed his position, switchblade at the ready. He was glad that those two have their backs turned to him, otherwise they would have seen him with the blade in his hand.

Finally, Phyco and Soliera turned around, only to be met with Quatre lunging towards him, despite his injury, and slashed Soliera’s visor, catching Phyco off-guard in the process. Soliera cried out in surprise more than pain. The mustached man growled at Quatre, preparing to strike back, only for his visor to be slashed as well.

Quatre stepped back, panting, the look of anger present in his undamaged aquamarine eye. “I told you; you should have put your Pokémon back into its ball. How do you two feel about yourselves now?”

Soliera let out a harsh growl at him in frustration. Phyco only stopped her before she could do anything. 

“Leave him be for now,” he said, then turned to the Sandrock pilot. “You will regret ever doing that. Bust rest assured, my colleague and I will meet our goal, regardless of what you may do. When next we meet, you wouldn’t have to worry about your eye or hand being damaged. We bid you good day.”

Both Phyco and Soliera made a square with both of their hands and left in the direction they’re originally taking. While Quatre was relieved that he wouldn’t have to see them again for a while, he had other pressing matters. His hand, eye, and ride side of his face need to looked at, the ooze burning it greatly, but more importantly, Duo and possibly Heero. He must tell them of what had happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Heahea Hospital, Bathroom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*No BGM*♫♩

Heero was grateful for some privacy after he fled Duo’s room. Heck, he was even more grateful just get away from him. The strange magnetic feeling was becoming too much for him. Why does he sometimes feel like he’s being pulled towards him like a magnet? It’s almost as if something’s calling at him to get closer to him. If that was the case, then Heero likely fought it off every time he hears or feels it.

He takes a look at his wrist. Gold sparkles appear, moving and disappearing, as if moving within his bloodstream, glowing faintly. He has no doubt that there are moving faintly glowing gold sparkles all over him, he’s actually accustomed to this; he’s had them since his botched mission.

Heero closed his eyes and shuddered at the memory. As much as he would like to forget all about it, he simply couldn’t. The stray explosion that had happened then was beyond his control. It knocked down an OZ Leo mobile suit, creating a domino effect in so doing, destroyed the residence of a little girl and her dog he had met prior, killing them both. The gold sparkles manifested within him a short while after that.

Heero was first surprised when it had first happened, but also slightly scared that Doctor J might discover them. He did his best to hide is manifesting sparkles and light glow. Doctor J did make note, when he first took him in for training to be a Gundam pilot, that Heero’s body temperature was a little higher than a normal human would, but didn’t do anything further, which had relieved Heero in retrospect. And then there was this small, faint voice that had been spoken within his head.

_ “You can’t give up.” _

Those were the words he thought he had heard. He thought nothing else about it, thinking it was just his imagination. Looking at the gold sparkles and faint glow emanating from him, was it really his imagination? Keeping mind of Doctor J’s notation of his unusual body temperature and the gold sparkles, and his “Perfect Soldier” mindset, is he really still human?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Duo’s Hospital Room~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~Facing the Wind - Namco x Capcom~*♫♩

Remilia lifted up one of Duo’s wrists, at first in his protest, but now in Duo’s horror. “There’s black crystals growing all over your arms. Don’t tell me you never noticed.”

Duo flung his wrist out of Remilia’s hand. “For your information, Remilia, I actually did notice. And I don’t think there’s a damn thing anybody can do about it at this point!”

“I also saw a few of them growing out of your skin. It’s almost they’re erupting.”

The Deathscythe pilot took a good look at his arm. Remilia’s right, the black crystals are growing from his skin. Actual, honest-to-God crystals literally growing from his skin. He’s heard of “wood” growing from people’s skins (although these are usually classified as “tumors”), but never actual crystal. Just what is going on with him?

Trowa’s green eyes cast down for a second. He could sense that the crystals growing from Duo’s skin and him suddenly going berserk at the Battle Royal Dome are connected somehow. The reason for this connection, however, remains unclear.

Duo noticed the green-eyed boy’s downward cast. “You got something, Tro?”

The Heavyarms pilot looked back up. “I was just thinking about something.”

“You’re worried about Quatre and Heero?” Remilia asked. She did witness the rather sweet scene of Trowa comforting Quatre when she accidentally slammed her breasts into his face. She also noticed that Trowa was cradling Quatre’s head against his teal turtleneck, whispering sweet words to him, and Quatre blushing, but it was a love blush. It took all of Remilia’s self-control to not fangirl at the scene. 

“Only a little bit,” Trowa replied as-matter-of-factly. “No, I’m actually thinking about when Duo went berserk at the Battle Royal Dome.”

“And pinning me down?”

“Did I?” asked Duo, a little confused.

Remilia and Trowa looked at him. “Don’t, don’t think about it,” said Remilia.

Duo only blinked once.

Remilia and Trowa then excused themselves from the room and into the hallway, to spare Duo the guilt of having pinned Remilia down, even though he was at a loss of control at that time. As soon as they were alone, Trowa became the first to ask. “Duo actually pinned you down?”

“Yeah, on the platform,” Remilia answered, craning her neck up at a near-right angle so her eyes could meet with his. Trowa is certainly taller than the other pilots, she noticed. “You and the other guys saw on the TV in the cafe area, didn’t you?”

“Neither one of us got a good look, no. Although we did see you were able to get out of it, though.”

“And had Brynja slam him on the noggin. I feel a little bad, though, for doing that.”

Trowa let out a rare smile. “Don’t blame yourself. If it wasn’t for your quick thinking, then Duo would have torn you into shreds in his, um… feral state.”

Remilia made a small smile as her cheeks tinted a light pink. It doesn’t matter how many times she received praise, she’s always prone to blushing. “To repeat Duo’s question, what are you thinking exactly? Was it about the crystals growing from his skin?”

“It is. I’ve been thinking that there is a faint connection between that and Duo’s temporary berserker state. I can’t put my finger on what the connection is, or even why.”

Remilia licked her lips quickly and brought her head down, somewhat relieved that she wouldn’t have to look at Trowa for a while, even if it’s short. Speaking of short, she noted that she was very small compared to the large-banged boy before here, even though she’s got long legs accentuated by her over-the-knee socks and short shorts, but Trowa’s legs are longer, not to mention seemingly lanky with those blue-gray skinny jeans he wears!

Finally the pink-haired girl looked up, deciding to give her neck a rest by craning it at a lesser angle, letting her eyes move to meet the pair of emerald orbs (one of which was obscured by the large brown bang; Remilia briefly wondered if Trowa uses hair gel just for that style). “I’m starting to think that, too, Trowa. What if that really is the case? All we gotta do is find that connection, right? If we do, then what do you suggest we do about it?” Remilia left out the question of severing the “connection,” because she’d rather hear what Trowa or everyone else has to say.

Trowa’s ears picked up the tone and his green eyes carefully studied the glint in Remilia’s soft blue eyes. Both of them translated that Remilia had a couple more questions, but she’d rather not leap until she hears what everyone has to say, what their opinions are. As difficult as it is to believe, Trowa was taking a liking towards the small girl. She is a great Trainer in her own right, but her intelligence is what had been standing out. He would have to admit, Remilia’s tactics in battle in battle style almost always involved quick thinking.

But before he could say anything, Remilia’s stomach growled lightly. “Crap, I haven’t eaten anything all day today.”

“I think I saw a couple vending machines on the first floor,” Trowa pitched in. “You could get yourself something to eat or drink.”

“What about you, though?”

“Coming with. I never got the chance to eat all of my bagel or drink my coffee when that episode happened.”

“Okay! It’s great to have a travelling companion for journeying to vending machines!”

Remilia went ahead of Trowa, the latter following closely behind. How and where Remilia gets her energy is beyond him, but at least she’s pleasant enough to hang around with. The pair went down to the elevator and descended to the first floor, and exited out the doors only to be met with loud murmurs.

“What in the world?” Remilia asked.

Coming towards them, there was a person on the stretcher. An all-too familiar person.

“Quatre?” said Trowa, eyes wide in surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bulbapedia's entry about Poipole's adhesive poison is kind of vague (at least, when I last accessed it), so I more or less written it as a corrosive adhesive. And yes, I did a little research on chemical burns and how to treat them, so I tried to apply what I searched up to the Pokemon world.


	8. Spread Out

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Heahea Hospital, Emergency Floor~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

“That was Quatre?” Remilia asked as soon as she heard Trowa speak his name.

Trowa didn’t say anything, but rushed over to where the hospital workers are maneuvering the stretcher a direction away from the elevator. Both Remilia and Trowa promptly got out of their way. He tried to come along, but was stopped by one of them, the latter stating to let them handle this. Awhile, a few questions swirled around Remilia’s mind. Quatre’s hand was on one of his eyes, but exactly happened to him? Did he get punched in the eye? If so, how bad was it that would render him to a stretcher to get treated? Did he get stung by a Beedrill? No, Beedrill are usually away from urban areas such as Heahea. Did he have a nasty encounter with a Grimer or Muk? Actually, Muk and Grimer are generally very friendly Pokèmon, and Quatre loves Pokèmon, so it’s extremely unlikely that he would threaten them in any way. Unless he might have encountered a thug with one of them…

But before she decided to let it go, Remilia spotted two figures at the reception desk. Her heart dropped to the floor and a small sense of cold dread washed over her entire body. She recognized those figures, all too well.  _ Ohhhh crap. _

Quickly, she turned her head to Trowa, who was still staring at where Quatre was taken and told him, “Trowa, you never saw me!” and rushed to the elevator, hastily pressing the up button repeatedly and fidgeting.

Trowa suddenly heard Remilia say something, but didn’t catch the words. He turned around to her, only to see her swiftly entering the elevator, press a button to the floor they were previously on and the elevator doors closing again. He was confused at Remilia’s sudden change of behavior, but before he could ponder it any more, the two individuals caught his attention.

He turned his head and craned his neck downward to see two young boys: One has blonde hair in the same shade and color as Quatre’s, half of it styled in a buzz cut with the other half a large fringe over one of his green eyes, wears black and red clothing consisting of a thin hoodie and capris, both of which have tear marks on them exposing some skin (save for the one in the middle with a zipper, which might be intentional), red shoes, and a red fanny pack in a vastly different style than Remilia’s. The other boy has darker skin than the first, wears his dark hair in a tufted ponytail, eyes of the same color, wears black t-shirt, orange-patterned shorts and orange shoes (that probably resemble Crocs from the pilots’ dimension), and wears an orange backpack. The two boys appear to be the same age as Remilia, although they are almost a few inches taller than her.

“Do you two want something?” Trowa asked.

“Yes, we do,” said the blonde boy, whose voice having a slight raspy crack, possibly indicating that he might be going through puberty at this point. “Have you seen someone with pink-brown hair, wears a Luvdisc tank top and white ruffled shoulder bag?”

It took Trowa no time to realize that all of those traits the boy just said point to Remilia. But Remilia hastily went to the elevator and went back. Unless… 

“I have actually,” the Heavyarms pilot replied. “Are you two friends with her?”

“Well, we’re not going to be, any longer,” said the blonde boy with a glare that could possibly rival Heero’s. “Where did you last see her?”

“She went to the elevator, I think. I didn’t see what floor she went to, though. I was on the same floor as her when we were visiting a friend of mine.”

“Then can you take us there?” the dark-haired boy said next.

“Um, yes, I can.”

Trowa and the two boys wasted no time getting into the elevator. Trowa pressed a button to the floor he and Remilia were previously on and the doors closed. He had prayed that Remilia would forgive him for revealing where she actually is, but in his defense, he had no idea where (or for that matter, what) she would be hiding from him, let alone what floor she actually is on. But then there’s also the issue of those two boys and their relationship with Remilia. The blonde boy says that he and the dark-haired boy won’t be friends with her any longer, so what could Remilia have possibly done to the both of them to warrant ending whatever relationship they had with her, assuming that Remilia was friends with the two?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Heahea Hospital, Fifth Floor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Remilia dashed out of the elevator shaft and ran into the hallways. She was thankful that there wasn’t anybody around, otherwise she would be red-faced if she would bump into them by accident! Seeing that she’s far away from the elevator, she reduced her run to a jog, so that she could pay closer attention to the rooms.  _ Why, oh why oh why oh why oh why did Hau and Gladion have to come to the ER  _ now  _ of all times?!  _ she thought hastily.  _ This is all Quatre’s fault, whatever the hell he’s done to land him into this shitpit!  _

She suddenly spotted Heero, who was walking slowly and heading towards Duo’s room. Remilia picked up her pace again and ran towards him, yelling his name and made an attempt to grab his wrist with the intent of taking him with her.

Heero was suddenly caught off-guard from Remilia grabbing his wrist, and stumbled a little before regaining his balance as he turned around. “What’s going on with you?” he asked.

“I need a place to hide,” said Remilia. “Help me find a bathroom or supply closet, will you?!”

“Then why are you taking me with you?”

“Because I’d rather not leave any witnesses! Trowa might have revealed where I am already, so help me look!”

Heero was still a little confused at the pink-haired girl’s words, but he figured he would get some answers from her once she finds a “hiding spot” for them both. After a minute of forced running, Remilia found a unisex bathroom and shoved Heero in there before getting in herself and locking the door from the inside.

Leaning back against the porcelain wall and folding his arms against his chest, the Wing pilot asked, “Now, would you mind explaining to me what has gotten you so frantic?”

Remilia looked at him, her body plasted against the wooden door, her blue eyes tense. “There are two guys out there that want my blood,” she replied.

“Those people want you dead? What for?”

Remilia bit her lip, unsure of what to say. She didn’t want to exaggerate, but she didn’t want to lie either, she’s already done enough of that when she and the boys are getting to Royal Avenue. 

She then swallowed. “...Probably.”

Heero turned on his side and rested his shoulder against the wall, crossing his legs in the process. His cobalt blue eyes stared intensely into Remilia’s seashore blues, which sent shivers down the latter’s spine. Remilia wasn’t affected nor intimidated by Heero’s eyes before, so why the hell is she now? Was it because she was nervous about what Heero might think about her, if she reveals the truth? That has got to be it.

“Why do they want you dead?” Heero asked monotonously. 

Okay, before, Remilia was frustrated that Heero wouldn’t display any emotion on his face or his voice; now she’s scared crapless over those traits. But it’s the situation she’s in, that’s making her like this! It’s the truth, isn’t it?!

Remilia swallowed again and replied. “I wrote some… stuff about them.”

“What sort of ‘stuff?’”

“Um, uh… th-things.”

“Define ‘things.’”

Before Remilia could say any further, she jumped and inhaled sharply as someone knocked on the door.

“Is there anyone in there?” a younger-sounding nurse said from behind the door.

“Yes!/Yes,” Heero and Remilia said at the same time. Remilia shot a pouty glare at the dark-haired boy. Heero simply stared as if not caring.

“‘Ro, is that you in there?” Duo’s voice was heard.

“No!” Remilia unintentionally raised her voice. Then she cleared her throat. “Uh, Heero’s actually not in there, I went down to the ground floor with Trowa to get ourselves some snacks. Did he actually come back?”

“I don’t think so,” Duo replied. “He didn’t come back to my room when I was being discharged.”

“Wait, you’re actually free to leave the hospital?”

“Yeah. Still feeling a little woozy, but I’ll live. Plus the usual doctor’s orders.”

“But you suffered a concussion!”

“They said it was actually very mild!”

Remilia blinked once. “That’s one thick skull you’ve got there.”

_ Wish I could say I was surprised, _ Heero thought.

“Ehh maybe, I dunno,” said Duo. “Anyway, are you gonna be out soon? I need to pee, like really bad.”

“Is that why you’re outside the door?” Remilia asked.

Heero rolled his eyes.

“Uh duhhhh! So can you please hurry the heck up?”

Remilia swallowed a third time. Should she let Duo in and do his business, possibly ignoring the fact that Heero’s in here with her? Or face the wrath of Hau and Gladion? If Trowa’s with them, then she’ll unleash her wrath on him for giving away her location.

Deciding that stalling Duo would only incur his wrath, she turned to Heero. “Press yourself against the wall so that you wouldn’t be seen by Duo. The door swings to the right so you should be fine.”  _ I hope. _

Remilia swiftly opened the bathroom door and dashed out as Duo, now in his black jodhpur-uniform getup (how Duo managed to get something like that is beyond her), quickly went in, all the while praying that Heero did as she told him and hopefully sneak out to avoid Duo’s detection. She placed her hand on her chest and let out a loud exhale, relieved to be free from Heero’s interrogation.

“There she is! I see her!”

Uh-oh, spoke too soon!

Remilia let out a squeaky shriek and made a beeline out of here.

The two boys immediately ran ahead of Trowa and took notice of their friend running away. Realizing that she’s too far away to catch up to her, the dark-haired boy pulled out a Pokè Ball and released a large rodent Pokèmon that has tan fur, a white underbelly, fluffy yellow ears, yellow circles on its cheeks, white paws, bright blue eyes and is standing on a rounded lightning bolt-shaped tail while floating. The dark-haired boy commanded it to reel Remilia towards them and the rodent Pokèmon complied; its blue eyes glowed harshly summoned a bright blue energy rope and motioned it to catch Remilia.

The pink-haired Trainer suddenly found herself enwrapped in bright blue energy. She struggled against it, but she’s essentially powerless against the blue psychic energy; her movement is severely limited at this point. In a jerk, she was suddenly pulled towards the two boys and Trowa, letting out a long-winded shriek in the process. 

The pulling suddenly stopped, and Remilia was grateful that she didn’t suffer a whiplash awhile. Frantic, her eyes darted to the Raichu that did this, then to Trowa--who just caught up to them--the flabbergasted nurse and her two male friends. She felt her heart hammer in her ribcage as she became paralyzed in the looks of two pairs of pissed off eyes.

“Um, hi, Gladion,” said Remilia nervously. “How you doing, Hau?”

“What we’re doing is not letting you off the hook for what you’ve just done,” the dark-haired boy known as Hau replied.

“Yeah, we lost you at the Ruins of Conflict on Melemele, and it took us a good six and a half hours before we found you again,” said the blonde boy now known as Gladion said as well.

“Okay, so I’ve been writing slash fanfiction of you guys,” said Remilia, not ready to admit defeat. “At least I’m only human!”

Trowa’s green eyes widened at the revelation.  _ So that explained why she was hiding in the bushes,  _ he thought.  _ If this was the case then either this Hau or Gladion are her intended partners for the Battle Royal multi-battle match and she might have lied about one of them being sick and unable to join. _

“And besides, it’s Rotom’s fault for revealing that fact!” Remilia continued. “If you’re gonna be all pissy at somebody, you can give Rotom a beatdown just for that! You guys know how rude and annoying he can be!”

“It doesn’t change the fucking fact that you were writing slash fanfiction of me and Hau, Remilia!” Gladion countered.

“Last time I checked, writing slash fanfiction is nobody’s business! Just consider yourselves lucky I didn’t publish it online!”

“It still makes you sick-minded, Remilia!”

“It does fucking not and you know it!”

“It does too!”

“Does not!”

“Does too!”

“Does not!”

“Does too!”

“Does not!”

“Does too!”

“DOES FUCKING NOT!!”

“Everybody be quiet for a minute!”

Every last pair of eyes fell onto Trowa--including Heero and Duo after hearing some running and Remilia’s screaming--who yelled that sentence.

Unfortunately for him, it did not quell Remilia’s rage as she turned her angry eyes onto him. “Trowa, I’ll take care of you later just for giving away my location to them!”

“I didn’t know where you are, nor do I know what those two want from you,” Trowa stated to defend himself.

“So you just followed them?!”

“Whoa, whoa, back up a bit,” said Duo. “What exactly is going on here?”

Gladion turned towards the braided boy. “If you must know what this screamfest is all about, Remilia here was writing slash fanfiction about me and Hau.”

Duo just stared. “Remi’s a fanfiction writer? And she’s been writing stories about you guys?”

“Slashing us, which is disgusting enough as it is,” Gladion replied.

“I probably might regret asking this, what what exactly is slash in the writing sense?” Trowa asked.

“If you must know, when you slash two people together, it means you’re pairing up two people of the same gender, often in sexual situations.”

Duo felt his cheeks tint slightly. “Ew,” he said under his breath.

“The hetero equivalent is flash,” Remilia said begrudgingly, still angry at Trowa for “betraying” her.

“And you say that she’s been writing slash fanfiction of you guys?” the Deathscythe pilot asked.

“She is for Arceus knows how long,” Gladion answered.

“I’ve been writing yaoi fanfiction, a lot of it since I was twelve,” Remilia stated angrily. “Slashin’ real guys came after; I’ve never posted any of it online!”

“Maybe that is why she lied to us about one of them being sick and unable to make it to the Battle Royal multi-battle matches today,” Trowa pitched in, causing Remilia to turn her head around to him with added expressions and emotions of shock, horror, and embarrassment.

“Wait, she actually did?” asked Duo in a surprised tone.

“At least that’s what I’m assuming.”

Unable to stand the overwhelming emotions boiling inside her, Remilia let out a loud frustrated scream and quickly moved away from the group, punching Trowa in the gut in frustration while on her way towards the elevator and disappearing in it.

Hau, Gladion and the other pilots all watched the scene with the atmosphere heavy. The Gundam pilots, Hau especially (and with the exceptions of Heero and Gladion), simply watched her leave with looks of confusion and genuine concern.

“Maybe you guys were being too harsh on her?” Duo broke the heavy silence.

“Why would we not?” Gladion replied with a shrug.

“Don’t act like you’re clueless!” said Duo, putting his hands on his hips. “You’re the ones that called her disgusting for writing fanfiction!”

“Ummmm, correction: Remilia has written  _ slash _ fanfiction of  _ us. _ ”

“Does it really matter? She said that she never posted it on the internet!”

“Oh, really, then how would any of  _ you  _ guys like it if someone writes slash fanfiction of you guys?”

Duo immediately held his breath when asked that. If someone like her writes slash fanfiction of them…? Remilia did say that she never posts this type of story online, and from her tone, she sounds true to her word. The same should be true to him and the others if she does it to them.

He then exhaled. “Since you two want my opinion,” he started to answer, his tone low and careful. “I don’t see the problem as long as Remilia doesn’t publish real-person fanfiction online, especially ones that contain slash, flash, femslash or the like. And personally, I don’t understand why the hell you guys were getting pissy over something she does in her private time. That’s like accidentally walking into her, well… doing her business that requires privacy and blaming her doing something that requires that particular privacy. The way I see it, Remilia sounded genuine when she said that she never posts slash of you kids on the internet. If she does, then it’s a whole different story altogether. What she does in her private time is none of you guys’ business, nor was it Rotom’s for that matter, even if he did slip it. The least you could do is let it go, forget about it and move on.”

Hau turned his head to Gladion after listening. He searched his visible green eye and detected only conflict. After seeing Remilia run away from them in frustration and anger, he started to wonder if their anger was warranted. Sure, he was angry that Remilia was writing slash fanfiction about them, but she also said that she never posted them on the internet. Did he and Gladion really go too far on their anger?

“Um, Gladion?” he spoke, although the words were a little forced, only because of how scary the blonde boy can be whenever he’s scowling.

Gladion turned to him after hearing his name.

“I think what that guy was saying is true. Yeah, we were angry before, but I think it’s wrong to be angry at her now. I think… I think we should go and apologize to Remi.”

Even after hearing those words, Gladion’s expression never faltered. His mind and heart battled with each other on what decision to make: either dump Remilia or make up with her. Could he really do it? Granted, Gladion’s not the most social person Hau and Remilia has known, but… but he could at least try… right?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Heahea Hospital, Emergency Room Ground Floor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Remilia sat in one of the plush chairs in the waiting area, munching on a small package of Oreo cookies she purchased from one of the vending machines. Each bite she took, she only intended to savor in the hopes of getting over her harsh, red-faced argument with Gladion. Oreos have always been her comfort food, it has been that way ever since she started puberty. To be truthful, she never had much of a sweet tooth prior to meeting Hau; her meals mostly consisted of sushi or anything related that has sliced raw fish Pokèmon, her favorites being Magikarp and Wishiwashi. She’s also made poffins, although they were primarily made for her Pokèmon as she has yet to either find or change the recipe for human consumption.

Honestly, Remilia’s still steaming about Gladion for calling her “disgusting” for writing slash fanfiction, let alone writing slash fanfiction of him and Hau. Although she’s also starting to get sad--possibly guilty--that those two are more likely than ever to end their friendship with her (as much as Gladion would say that he and Remilia are “just people who know each other,” though she always thinks it’s just “tsundere” behavior on his part). But, then again, it’s Rotom’s fault that this happened; it was the one that let slip of her secret hobby. But she never uploaded these stories online, she said so herself. But then again, it doesn’t really matter, does it?

Remilia looked at the half-empty package of Oreos in disdain. Her consumption of them is barely helping at all, as much as she had said that she hasn’t eaten anything all day today. Granted, it has calmed her down somewhat (not that excuses her blow-up at Gladion) and satisfied her hunger a little bit, but it did practically nothing to quell the growing depression within her. Oreos are her comfort food, they’re supposed to neutralize negative emotions. That’s why comfort food is called what it is!

Giving away a bummed-out sigh, Remilia resealed the package and placed it in her ruffled bag so she can eat the rest later. As she got up from the chair a sudden thought came to her. Quatre left Duo’s hospital room a little while ago. Wait… it  _ is  _ a little while ago. Then another thought hit her.  _ Oh, yeah, Quatre was being treated for something, durr. _ She mentally slapped herself for forgetting that fact. But what was Quatre being treated for, she wants to find out. And she would guess that Trowa would, too. And Heero and Duo, in the case of them wondering what had happened to him while he was out. Recalling her conversation with Trowa, maybe what Quatre had witnessed would provide a clue or two for Duo’s “condition” and the reason for his sudden berserker rage at the Battle Royal Dome.

Her blue eyes darted left and right, trying to remember where Quatre was being taken. Maybe she might ask a nurse or doctor for where he might be. Or perhaps she could ask another Chansey or possibly and available Comfey and it might lead her to where he was being treated? Actually, having a Chansey around during major operations is extremely doubtful, as smart as they are. The same might be theoretically true for the Comfey. Besides, they’re not really the best things to hold conversations.

But before Remilia could decide, the elevator doors opened, revealing Duo, Heero, Trowa, and behind them, Hau and Gladion. She could feel her face tingle when her eyes landed on them and automatically, her eyebrows knitted together. After Gladion called her “disgusting,” she really wanted to be away from him and Hau.

Duo let out a small smile as he approached her first. “Hey, kiddo.”

Remilia hesitated to reply. “Did they follow you here?”

“You could say that.”

“You’re ready to leave at any time today, aren’t you, Duo?”

“Yeah, I’ve told you I’ve been discharged. Feel a little dizzy, but I can handle it.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

Duo swallowed. He hoped for Gladion and Hau to apologize to her, and Remilia the same, but considering her present emotional state, he wondered if she needs a little more time. She still would have their contact information, so it should be fine for them to exchange apologies once they’ve cooled down?

“Did Hau and Gladion follow you here?” Remilia asked.

Duo thought for a moment. “Probably. I don’t know if they want to see you, though.”

Remilia said nothing, unsure of what to say.

Hau stepped a little away from the group. The look in Remilia’s eyes told him not to approach any closer to her, unless he would like to get his head snapped off. Although considering the look of being spent on her face, it’s doubtful that she would anytime soon. Remilia has been Hau’s best friend and travelling companion ever since their island challenges together. Add Gladion and Lillie to the mix and the whole group feels complete. It really pained him to see her upset or depressed.

He swallowed and started talking, unwilling to cope with the suffocating silence any longer. “Remi, I’m sorry. I was… I was pretty angry with you. When your Rotom Dex said that you’ve been writing some yaoi fanfiction of me and Gladion, I, I didn’t know how to respond. When he got angry, I sort of became angry, too. When you said you never posted those fanfictions online, I realized that I was, um, a little misguided in my anger. Will you… will you forgive me?”

The look in Hau’s dark eyes led Remilia to the conclusion that Hau was being genuine in his apology. He did acknowledge it was his fault that things got out of proportion and placed a nasty dent in their friendship. But it was also her fault for worsening it a little, judging from her yellfest with Gladion earlier. (Rotom also played a role, but even if it didn’t, nothing would have changed as they would have discovered this sooner or later.) She wanted to throw her arms around her best friend’s deep-tanned neck and bury her face in the crook of it, but she would rather wait a bit on that.

She turned her head slightly towards Gladion, in an attempt to look through his half-hidden face, disregarding his semi-permanent scowl, to see if he is as guilty as Hau for being pissy at her. The single lone swirling emerald pool matched her prediction correctly. But is Gladion ready to apologize, or would he rather wait on it? The look of guilt says he should, and now would probably be the right time to do so.

Remilia’s prediction might have the outcome different or similar once Gladion opened his mouth to speak. “Just like Hau, I’m also sorry,” he said. “Things got out of proportion because of us.” He neglected to add that it was also Remilia’s fault for losing her temper. “You said you never post those fanfictions you wrote about me and Hau online. It was genuine, and we were blind to that fact. I would admit that we were angry at what you had done, according to Rotom, but we never realized that we blew it out of proportion. We didn’t know what we were thinking other than our getting pissed at you for writing stuff about us in… you know. Just like Hau, I also hope that you forgive me. Forgive us.”

Remilia’s blue eyes softened at Gladion’s version. When she and Hau first met him, he was pretty cold and dark, but otherwise acknowledges the strength of different Pokèmon and their Trainers. Even meeting him a few more times his coldness and darkness hardly changed, but she did detect a few more positive traits underneath that exterior. He even called her a decent Trainer while they were at the entrance to the base of Mt. Lanakila. It actually warmed her heart to see how much Gladion had changed (though she didn’t care much for his strained surprise when she wrapped him in a hug while there).

Still, even with all that, Remilia’s mind was still fresh on the fact that Gladion called her “disgusting” for writing slash fanfiction. As much as she wanted to forgive them both, she’d rather not for the time being; at least until she’s emotionally stable enough to do so.

“It’s going to take a while,” she said softly. “While I do accept you guys’ apology, I don’t think I’m in a position to forgive you guys so easily. I don’t know how long or when, but I will. Just not right now, not here.”

Hau suddenly smiled widely, even though Remilia knows he’s just using it as a front, not like that’s anything new to her. “Hey, it’s okay, Remi. Gladion and I can wait, no worries.”

Remilia also found herself smiling just before she could stop it. “Thanks. Both of you, for understanding.”

Duo let out a fake cough so that things wouldn’t get awkward with the silence looming. “Let’s go and see Quatre, shall we?”

“I was thinking about that,” said Remilia almost absently.

“Huh?” asked Hau. “Who’s Quatre?”

Remilia looked at him. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I think I saw him being rolled away through…” Trowa briefly scanned the area where he and Remilia stepped out of the elevator. He knows that Quatre is somewhere on the ground floor. Finally, he pointed out the direction he last saw the stretcher, which he thinks he was going into the right hallway. “This way, I think. Though I don’t know if they allow visitors at this stage.”

“Um, I vaguely noticed it when Trowa and I saw the stretcher,” Remilia spoke up. “But I think I saw what looks like super glue or something. And it was glowing lightly.”

Gladion craned his head up rapidly, his large set of bangs bouncing lightly. “A glowing glue-like substance, you said?”

“Yeah. Although I don’t think we could figure all this out just by standing around.” 

“All we have to do is ask whether Q-ball’s up an’ ready for visitors,” said Duo. “Think you can lead the way, Tro?”

♫♩*~A Loss for Words (II) - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

Trowa nodded and started to lead the group (including Hau and Gladion) to the right hallway where he had last saw Quatre. He approached the reception desk of the emergency treatment area and asked if there was anyone that had passed through here. The woman replied that there was only one, but also said that the person they were looking for is not here; he was rolled out to the recovery area. The woman was kind enough to give them directions on where the area is and so the group set off again to look for it, and possibly find Quatre there.

Eventually, the group arrived at an area of the hospital and Remilia caught a young nurse in her eye, walking along with a Comfey wearing a nurses’ cap floating beside her (which startled Duo, understandably). She approached them both and asked them about someone in the recovery area (with the basic description of buttery blonde hair, big blue eyes, wears a pink dress shirt, violet vest and khakis), and the nurse kindly complied and lead them to Quatre’s room, with the Comfey following (much to Heero’s discomfort, as the smell of the flowers on its vine-tail thing was making his head hurt a little).

They eventually arrived to the room, the young nurse opening the door for them so they can enter. As soon as they saw Quatre, Duo became the first to tackle him in a hug, causing the former to cry out in surprise. Thankfully, Duo let his friend go and decided to take a careful look at him. His right eye, a little of his jawline and his hairline is covered by bandages, holding the gauze on his eye firmly in place. His right hand was also in bandages, up to the tips of his fingers, inhibiting their movement a fair bit. 

Trowa also approached the blonde Sandrock pilot and asked if he was okay. 

“I’m all right, Trowa,” Quatre had replied. “There’s no need to worry about me, really.”

Remilia felt her heart flutter and her cheeks flush as she looked at the scene of Trowa and Quatre interacting with one another in such a sweet manner. Already, she’s gathering some story ideas in her head. Still, she kept her fujoshi-ness under control and walked towards Quatre. “Are you sure you’re alright, Quatre? It did look like you got sprayed with super glue or something.”

Curious to know what Remilia was saying, Quatre placed his unbandaged hand on his affected eye, touching it gently. It’s still a little sensitive, but at least the burning pain went away, a fact that he was glad for. He also didn’t feel anything that remotely is glue or super glue, either.

“I’m really all right, Remilia, everybody,” said Quatre with a kind smile, knowing full well that everybody was concerned for him, Trowa especially. “My bandaged eye still feels a little tender, but it wasn’t as painful as it once was.”

Gladion became the next to approach, which sparked Quatre’s curiosity. He was already curious as to why and Hau are here, and it’s safe to say that his curiosity peaked a little. “Remilia said that you had a glowing blue super glue-like substance on your face and gotten it onto your hand. Would you care to elaborate a little on that? Whatever information you have might be great, even if it’s only a little bit.”

Remilia shot him a warning look. Gladion gave a look back that silently states that their real reasons for wanting that information will still be kept secret.

Quatre took in a deep breath and exhaled, sorting out his thoughts together. “While Duo here was recovering from his, um, mild concussion,” he began to tell his tale. “I spotted two strange people in what seems to be powersuits standing outside the building, on the sidewalk. Curious, I went downstairs and exited out, asking who they are and what they want. Then they started asking me for some information.” He looked at Duo. “Information I wasn’t all that willing to give, obviously. Then they sent out a strange alien-looking Pokèmon that they said was a ‘Poipole.’ I was able to defend myself against it, but I was hit by this glue-like substance while I was trying to evade its attacks.”

He placed his hand on his bandaged eye, careful not to put any undue pressure on it due to the sensitivity. “Even though it was glue, there was a searing, burning pain on my eye and my hand, not to mention it’s extremely sticky. It was almost as if it was a chemical burn.”

Everybody watched in stunned silence as Quatre finished his story, sans Remilia and Gladion, whose heads are running with different possibilities of this new creature Quatre just talked about, especially if the creature’s name was called “Poipole.” Remilia took the time to glance at Trowa. The green-eyed pilot was looking a little tense, almost as if to suddenly wanting to protect Quatre from something similar to happening again (which admittedly made her heart swell in fangirlism). It’s also pretty clear to her that Quatre still has some information, but only regarding the two strangers that had attacked him with their Poipole. Sure, it might be one of these that the Aether Foundation was trying to protect, but what concerns her the most was the two strangers. Recalling her conversation with Trowa, it wouldn’t really hurt to dig for more information. But should she, Trowa and Quatre be the only ones to know? Well, obviously, the young nurse shouldn’t be in this room with them to begin with, but perhaps she could let Heero and Duo in on this, too, maybe leave Gladion and Hau out of this as well? Well actually, she was planning on doing something with Duo, so he’s out of the list.

“Is there anything else you folks would need?” asked the nurse, breaking the silence.

Quatre looked at her. “Not right now, thank you.”

“Alrighty. Just press the button if you need anything.”

The nurse exited out of the room, the Comfey floating after her. Heero was relieved to see them leave, the Comfey especially. The scent of the flowers on its tail was not only giving him a headache, it also made him a little nauseated as well. He had been pinching his nose for as long as they were in the room to block out the scent. To the others, it wasn’t as strong, but even catching a whiff of the flowers was probably enough to make him a little physically ill.

Remilia was also glad that the nurse left, but for entirely different reasons. There really is no point in letting anyone else outside of her immediate circle--the pilots and possibly Hau especially--of what she is thinking about this Poipole and the two strangers that own it.

Duo became the second person to break the silence. “I got something to do with Remilia here at the moment,” he said as he stretched. 

“Oh?” Quatre replied. “What are you two planning to do?”

“We’re gonna braid Brynja’s hair,” Remilia answered for Duo.

“Ohhh, that sounds like fun.”

“Why don’t you just do it alone?” asked Heero.

Remilia glared at him. “Because I can’t braid for the life of me, butthole.”

Heero simply glared back in response. This time Remilia wasn’t even intimidated by it.

“Shall we get going, Remilia?” asked Duo with a wide grin on his face.

“You bet!” said Remilia enthusiastically.

Soon, Duo and Remilia went out of the room, leaving only Trowa confused.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let them leave when we were about to discuss what could be important?” he asked.

“It’s fine, Trowa,” replied Quatre. “Besides, I don’t believe Duo could stay in this room with Heero any longer.”

“Care to elaborate, Quatre?” asked Heero, the blonde boy’s statement having his interest piqued.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Heahea Hospital, Emergency Room Ground Floor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Alola Photo Club - Pokèmon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon~*♫♩

Duo and Remilia arrived in the waiting area of the emergency room, deciding to sit down in front of the plush chairs. When the braided boy questioned why this spot of all places, Remilia replied that that way they would be out of people’s way and the coffee table near them would be the best place to put her grooming supplies on them. These “grooming” supplies consisted of a hairbrush with a terry cloth base, a wide-tooth comb and a small packet of hair elastics. Duo commented on the cute design of the hair brush. Remilia explained the pattern is designed after Vaporeon, the Bubble-Jet Pokèmon and one of her favorite Water-types. She further explained that the type of hairbrush she uses for Brynja’s hair is designed to brush out wet hair without causing any damage.

Remilia released Brynja from her Pokè Ball and told her to get into a hero sitting position. The mermaid-like Pokèmon did as her master commanded, careful to not let any dirty microbes that might be on the floor caught between her bright blue scales (if Remilia thinks there are, she can always give her a gentle scrubbing on them). She placed her white flippers on her “lap,” crossed, and relaxed her shoulders. Duo, admittedly, was pretty bamboozled that a Pokèmon such as Brynja the Primarina could be slightly “human-like” but still retains some animal-like traits.

“Now,” said Remilia, holding her chin in her thumb and index finger. “What type of braid would she have…?”

“Why not do her hair in a French braid?” Duo suggested.

Remilia looked at the braided pilot with a confused expression on her face as soon as he said the nonsense-sounding word. “Huh?”

_ Crap! _ Duo thought worriedly.  _ How the hell do I get myself out of this one?! Think, Maxwell, think! _ “U-uh… K-Kalosian, that’s what I’m trying to say, a Kalosian braid.”  _ Kalosian  _ must  _ be this world’s equivalent of French, I swear. _

“I get it,” Remilia replied with confirmation, which freed Duo from the constriction in his chest. “But I’d rather not do it; it would be too tight on her scalp. But I’d rather not make this braid plain, even though Brynja’s hair is thick…”

The pink-haired Trainer put her fist down on her open palm as a thought suddenly came to her. “We could to a braid-in-braid!”

Duo’s face lit up at the proposal. “Sounds like a cool idea!”

“Yeah!”

Remilia immediately removed the two pearl rings holding Brynja’s flowing hair together and placed them on the table, releasing the latter’s light blue mane. Duo felt like the wind was sucked out of his lungs as he took on the sight before him. Brynja’s hair was by no means wild, it’s just flowing slowly and neatly from the theoretical “fairy force.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Remilia as she took hold of Brynja’s hair. “Even if her hair is flowing from the fairy force, it’s actually very easy to control with your hands, making braiding this a piece of cake.”

“That’s not I was worried about,” replied Duo without getting defensive.

The pink-haired teen shrugged. “Let’s get started, shall we? You get the brush and we can start brushing it out.”

Duo stretched his arm to the table to retrieve the Vaporeon-themed hairbrush. He gently grabbed hold of Brynja’s hair, and was taken aback at how smooth, soft and voluminous it is, almost as if it was wet with conditioner and water, and yet Duo’s hand didn’t feel like it was getting wet. 

Nevertheless, the braided pilot shifted his position a little to get himself a little more comfortable. He placed the bristles into Brynja’s hair and began running over it. He was greatly impressed that it was able to go through the light blue hair smoothly. But it’s still hair, even though it looks and feels luxuriously smooth and soft, there is still the chance of accidentally entangling it, and he probably might get into contact with Brynja’s sharp fangs if he tugs on it.

Once he’s finished, Remilia moved in front of Duo (telling him to keep brushing, albeit a little more slowly) and placed two fingers approximately five inches away from Brynja’s scalp, dividing the light blue mass into three strands. Duo began brushing the center section while Remilia held the other two in her hands. (Remilia told him not to tug on Brynja’s hair if he could.)

“You know,” Remilia started to talk. “Every time I start looking at Brynja’s hair, I look at yours. Both are pretty voluminous and smooth on their own. Brynja’s largely because of the fairy force combined with her regular swimming exercises, but yours, Duo? You get the hair you would see in women’s shampoo commercials if unwoven.”

“Yeah, well,” Duo started to answer while he was gently braiding the one strand. “Me having long hair wasn’t on purpose, to be entirely truthful.”

“Not on purpose?”

“Nope.”

Remilia snickered a little. “What, your parents were expecting a girl and you didn’t turn out the way they wanted you so they raised you as one? Hell of a time to explain to your friends why you never even first bled when you hit eleven or so. At least unless they tell you to tell them that you’re born without a uterus or ovaries--”

“I don’t have parents.”

Remilia blinked as soon as Duo cut in. “Huh?”

Duo’s face darkened a little. “I never knew my parents…”

A wave of guilt rushed over Remilia like water, and she mentally berated herself for joking that Duo’s parents raised him as a girl. How the heck could she be so insensitive? “Oh, Rattatas, I’m sorry, Duo. I never really knew.”

Duo flashed her a big smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I actually like my long hair. A little hard to manage, really, but I’m really happy with it.”

Remilia silently exhaled the trapped air in her lungs. “Thank Arceus for that,” she said under her breath.

Duo’s ears suddenly perked up. “Sorry, ‘Arceus?’”

“Don’t, don’t worry about it.” To be honest, it did bug Remilia a little that Duo would not know who or what Arceus, but she decided to let it go. Besides, she really did not expect him to ask that, which caught her off-guard. “So… how did you come to have long hair?”

Duo took a deep breath (after berating himself for accidentally asking the question of who Arceus is--who he might assume to be the Pokèmon equivalent of God) and let the air out, choosing his words carefully, as something normally said in his and his friends’ dimension might sound completely foreign to Remilia. “I grew up as a street Rattata in the poorer streets of Castelia City. Even then, my hair was pretty long, plus wild and untamed. I grew to like it, though, so I never really let anybody touch it except those close to me.”

“And let me guess, you were mistaken as a girl, like, several times,” said Remilia, smirking, trying to lessen the already depressing atmosphere. She thought it was unusual of Duo to be suddenly sullen when he was already full of life and wants to look at the bright side of things. To be honest, she is a lot like that, too. 

_ Her father was also like this… _

“Ugh, you have no freaking idea, Remi,” said Duo, exasperated, although he did smile.

Seeing how much being called a girl irritated Duo to no end (especially after his rage against Rotom when it called him a “girly boy” at the entrance to Lush Jungle), Remilia decided to change the subject a little. “So, what kind of shampoos or conditioners do you use? I would imagine you use women’s shampoo for your hair.”

Duo bit his lip in thought. “Right you are. The brand I usually use is, um, L’orèal, they make the best volumizing shampoos. Them doing the job of de-frizzing is kind of questionable, in my opinion.” He held his breath, hoping to God that this dimension actually has L’orèal in name. If it’s something similar that isn’t, then he is most definitely screwed.

“Cool,” Remilia was amazed. “I normally use Fructis. Their shampoos and conditioners are usually sweet-smelling, their supposed to mimic the fragrance of Tsareena. Although I’ve heard that they’re also using new fragrances, which they, I think, might have been doing even when I was born. I like the Tsareena-like fragrance the best. Anyway, they’re pretty fantastic at de-frizzing and volumizing.”

“If I may ask,” said Duo as he finished the first braid. He made sure that the braid itself is loose and not tugging at Brynja’s head. “What’s a Tsareena? They’re native to Alola, right?”

“As far as I know, Tsareena are native to tropical jungles in certain regions,” the pink-haired girl explained. “They’re usually found amongst Bounsweet and Steenee, their pre-evolved forms, although I think it’s only one per group of them.”

“I see. You got any hair ties with you?”

“I only put a bag on the table. I’ll go get it for you.”

Remilia got up and flexed her legs a little in an attempt to ease off the cricks in her joints. Limping slightly, she walked up to the coffee table and retrieved a lone small clear plastic elastic, bent down and handed it to Duo. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Duo said as he took the elastic from the girl and proceed to tie it at Brynja’s end to hold it in place. With the task done, he made sure that he had braided the first strand as loosely as possible, and was then satisfied and glad that it was a little loose. 

“Great,” Remilia spoke up. Then she took the wide-tooth comb from the table. “I just gotta com the last two strands first and then all that’s left to do now is do the main part.”

“Yup,” the Deathscythe replied in agreement.

Remilia sat down yet again and took one of the two bigger sections and combed it to smooth out any stray hairs. Once she was done with that, she handed the section to Duo for him to hold. She then proceeded to comb the third and last section and once that task had been done, she set the comb on the plush chair where the other pearls are and held the section. 

She looked at Duo with a smile. “Now for the main course.”

“Ohh, yeah,” said Duo who smiled back.

Duo then picked up the braided section in one hand and the free one in the other. He wrapped the two together with Remilia giving the third to him and he accepted it by wrapping his fingers around it. Being gentle as possible, he proceeded to start braiding the whole light blue mass. Duo would have to admit, Brynja’s hair is really beautiful; heck, it could even make even hair models go green with envy with hair like that! As he braided loosely as he could, his thoughts went back on how very shampoo-like Brynja’s hair is. If that were the case for other long-haired women (and himself), then they wouldn’t have to wash their hair ever again!

Finally Duo was done braiding the light-blue mass and he held the end tightly with his thumb and index finger. Remilia picked up one of the pearl rings on the plush chair and took over the end from Duo. Gently, she eased the ring up the lower tail and moved her fingers out of the way for it to fill around the ring.

Duo scooched back a little and Remilia stood up a little straighter while bending her head slightly, both looking pleased with their handiwork. While the con was that Brynja’s hair no longer flowed because of the style, it paled in comparison to how beautiful her braided hair looks. She looked even more like royalty in Remilia’s eyes. 

“That looks terrific,” Remilia commented after a few seconds of looking.

“I’ll say,” Duo answered. “She looks even more beautiful now.”

“There’s still one more thing to do, though.”

Duo turned and lifted his head up to her. “What’s that?”

“We can attach the pearls to her hair.”

Duo raised his eyebrows. “Attach…? Um, how do we do just that?”

Remilia picked up the other pearl ring. “By sticking them onto it? I really don’t know myself, but we can try.”

“Umm… okay.” Duo is not going to bother with trying to figure out how to “stick” the pearls onto Brynja’s braided hair; it would definitely make his brain explode overthinking it.

Remilia clutched one of the pearls and detached it from the ring, reminding Duo yet again to  _ not  _ overthink this. She then went down to her knees and placed the pearl onto Brynja’s braided hair. Satisfied that it stuck there, she detached another pearl and placed it on a different area, and then another and another until her braid became adorned with several pearls. Duo, in the meanwhile, just sat there, flabbergasted that the pearls easily stuck to Brynja’s hair. That’s when a light bulb flashed in his head.  _ Oh, yeah, “fairy force,” durr. I shoulda known the first time! Jeez, am I stupid. _

Remilia, thankfully, ignored Duo’s “this defies all science, physics and logic!” face and stood back up, eased the cricks in her leg joints yet again, planting her hands on her hips at the handiwork she and him had done. “There! I’d say that Brynja here looks more beautiful with these pearls!”

“Yeah, I agree,” Duo commented, getting up from his sitting position and stretching a little. “Pretty nice handiwork there, Remilia. Brynja looks like she’s glowing with all those pearls.”

Remilia turned her head to look at him. “Definitely. Maybe I should see you get that braid of yours decorated, Duo.”

“No-ho, no, no way, uh-uh,” the braided boy objected, putting his hands up, but he couldn’t stop the amused smile from forming on his face. “I refuse.”

“Oh, come on, Duo,” Remilia pleaded. “I can totally see you with flower buds in your hair, or possibly Comfey flowers!”

“Ehhh, maybe, I dunno. I might smell like a perfume shop.”  _ And besides, Heero didn’t look like he was enjoying the smell of these Comfey... _

Remilia giggled. “I wouldn’t care. Just so long as you would great with a bunch of flowers in it, possibly hanging long enough to be a bridal trail…”

“Remilia, please, stop.”

Remilia still giggled. Right now she’s got a lovely image of Duo with various exotic flowers cascading around his braid, coupled with a flower crown. He’d definitely the the spokesperson for traps, that’s for certain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's actually a hair brush for wet hair, but with a terry cloth bed. For Brynja's braid-in-braid, you can go look it up in Google images (I don't know if AO3 allows outside links).


	9. Migraines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm off work today again, I'll be posting a chapter once a day! I'll still be working next week, though, but I will continue posting until it's all done! After that, I'll be writing a loose sequel for this, so stay tuned for that as well.
> 
> Enjoy~!

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

It was rather quiet in Quatre’s hospital room, save for the nurse assigned to him checking the bandages just around five minutes before leaving the room(even then, nobody talked except for her and occasionally him). Fortunately, when Trowa and Heero asked how his burns are, the nurse stated that Quatre only suffered mild-to-moderate chemical burns, especially on his hand from the glue-like substance he was attacked with earlier. The nurse further explained that due to the substance probably being corrosive, it was removed from Quatre’s face and hand with the help of small Ice-type Pokèmon, usually an Alolan Vulpix, so it wouldn’t do any further damage to the skin. (It is rather fortunate that Quatre wasn’t affected by this for very long since he went back through the Emergency Room doors very shortly after his tangle with Phyco and Soliera, plus their Poipole.) Their icy breaths were used to freeze the substance while keeping the skin protected to decrease the risk of frostbite. During the process, the substance is carefully scraped off with minimal damage to the skin; the worst the patient would receive would be small cuts and nicks. All this was done while the patient is under anesthesia. The nurse also said that the adhesive substance did not make any direct contact with Quatre’s eyeball, although she did say that the skin on his face and hand were blistering a little from the chemical burning. It wasn’t as severe as it was first thought since he was near the Emergency Room doors at the time of the attack. She also stated that there would be some scarring and slight disfiguration once the bandages come off, leading to possible partial vision loss in Quatre’s eye.

The notion was enough to rouse Heero, Trowa, and even Gladion and Hau’s suspicions. For the Wing Zero and Heavyarms pilots, Quatre wasn’t likely out for a walk; Quatre explained that while the medics were tending to Duo and Remilia at the Battle Royal arena, he noticed the two strangers hiding in the corner of the topmost bleachers, where they thought they could not be seen. When he saw the strangers again while he was looking out the window in Duo’s room, he suspected they might have something to do with Duo suddenly going feral at the Battle Royal Dome. This other notion made Heero and Trowa’s suspicions grow a little more.

Recalling his conversation with Remilia (and politely asking the nurse, Gladion and Hau to leave the room), Trowa mentioned about the black crystals growing from Duo’s skin, further saying that there might be a link between the strangers, the crystals, and him suddenly going feral. Heero also said something about feeling like he’s being “pulled” towards him; as in  _ literally  _ being pulled, but the feeling was weak. The real question is, though, how long was all this happening up until they noticed it? A more interesting question:  _ why _ is this even happening? All of them have good theories, but they’re not very conclusive, and it might take a while to piece all of them together.

All three of the teenage pilots sat in silence until Duo and Remilia came in through the door. As soon as they did, Heero felt a tinge of being pulled. He then made a mental note to try to keep his distance from Duo the best he can, if he can.

“So, what’s the good news, Q-ball?” Duo asked, being his usual cheery self. 

The Sandrock pilot smiled at him. “They say that it’s not as harsh as they originally thought, and they were able to remove the substance successfully.”

“That’s really good to hear,” said Remilia. “I was worried that it would get permanently stuck to your face or something.”

“It wasn’t on my face for very long.”

“So, what exactly happened to you?” Duo asked, ignoring the tinge of discomfort in his head.

Trowa decided to elaborate as Quatre would rather not repeat what he has told to Heero and him. “Quatre said that he saw two strangers outside the window of your room that he thinks he saw previously at the Battle Royal Dome.”

Duo turned to him. “‘He thinks he saw?’”

“That was when Duo as yelling in pain and then attacked me in a berserker rage,” mused Remilia.

A light bulb suddenly turned on in Duo’s head. “You don’t think that those two guys have something to do with all this, didn’t you?”

“It might be possible,” replied Quatre.

“Quatre confronted them outside of the hospital,” Trowa continued. “He thinks they might be after something--you, possibly--Quatre wouldn’t allow it, so they attacked him.”

“I retaliated by slashing their visors,” Quatre finished. “And after that, I got treated for the chemical burns from the adhesive substance that Pokèmon squirted onto my face and hand.”

“They could still be on this island as we speak,” said Remilia. “Once you’re discharged Quatre, we’re going to Ula’ula.”

“Why Ula’ula?” Trowa asked.

“It’s the biggest island out of Alola’s other islands,” Remilia explained. “It’s so big that it would take a while to get around when you’re on a ride Pokèmon; you’d have to take the bus. And besides, you’re still looking for the rest of you, aren’t you? How many people are left in your group?”

“Just one,” Duo answered. “And if what you’re saying is true, then maybe we could find him.”

“I see. I’m gonna go see Gladion for a bit, if he’s still in the hospital somewhere.”

“I’m sure he and Hau might have left already,” Quatre stated.

“Well, if they have, I can still contact him.”

Remilia grasped the silver door handle in her hand. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She left the room with those words, leaving the four boys alone.

While a little disappointed out that Remilia has left, Trowa decided to press ahead without her; he’ll fill her in on their conversation a little later.

“Right,” he said. “So, let’s go on ahead with all this…”

*******************************************************************

♫♩*~Mission - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

The three young pilots had discussed for a few minutes about the events that have transpersed recently, with them getting to work on putting the events in chronological order of what had happened and were applying a few different theories. Quatre saw the two strangers and deduced that they might have been watching Duo and Remilia’s match with Lawrence and Juliet the entire time. Then, during the second round, Duo suddenly experienced a very intense acute migraine and suddenly went berserk and assaulted Remilia, almost as if he might be possessed by something. (Duo felt guilty that he did just that, although Quatre assured him that it was not his fault.) And then there’s the one thing that had happened for the incident at the Battle Royal Dome: black crystals growing out of Duo’s skin. 

While in the conversation, Duo stated that he gets headaches from time to time, and he shared Heero’s observation by saying he felt like he was being pulled towards him like two strong magnets. (And Duo could have sworn that Heero was glowing slightly, but the latter had swiftly denied it when asked about it.)

With all this being said, their theory is the same: the two strangers might have something to do with this, and whatever it was they have in store for Duo, they attempted to eliminate Quatre for interfering with them with whatever it is they’re planning. And if what Remilia said was true, then there is a chance they could be still on Akala, so it might be wise to get away from them as soon and quickly as possible; provided that Quatre would be discharged early, that is.

True to her word, Remilia came back to the room, alongside the nurse who was tending to Quatre. The nurse asked him a couple questions about his well-being and he answered honestly. The nurse also stated that the bandages have to stay on for at least eight weeks, depending on how well the chemical burns have healed up (even though they were only borderline-severe), additionally saying that Quatre will have to stay here for the rest of today into early evening for observation.

Quatre sighed in relief, stating that it is a lot better than immediately walking around with a partially-bandaged up face in the open; he would look like a freak to a lot of people.

Remilia frowned and puffed her cheeks slightly after hearing that statement, and sat on the bed next to him. “Oh, don’t be like that, Quatre,” she had said. “A lot of girls out there would think you’re adorable regardless.”

Quatre had blushed slightly as soon as he heard those words. “R-really?”

“Yeah! Everything about you just screams cute! You’ve got buttery blond hair, blue eyes as big as mine…” Remilia patted Quatre’s cheeks twice. “And you’ve got the best baby face I’ve ever seen on a guy! All those features you own are worth a million Pokèdollars!”

And Remilia wasn’t really exaggerating, either. Quatre does look adorable, huggably so, even with him being bandaged up. His smile with tinted cheeks is nearly enough for her to melt (key word being “nearly,” as she did not want to do that with the boys around). And it wasn’t just his looks either; he’s got a really pleasant aura around him that makes him unique and special. No wonder he was surrounded by a lot of the flower fairy Pokèmon when she first met him. And then there’s how polite and such a sweetie pie he is. If only she wasn’t a lesbian, she’d have Quatre all to herself! He’s just too damn cute!

Even with the blush, having heard the words from Remilia actually made him feel a lot better. The latter could have sworn she had heard Trowa chuckle lightly at her. He’s finding to really starting to like Remilia already.

After a couple of minutes with the blond pilot, Duo, Heero, Trowa and Remilia left the room and out of the hospital, with Remilia promising to pick up Quatre later. 

♫♩*~A Loss for Words (II) - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

Duo breathed in the salty Alolan air in his lungs. “Man, oh man, does it feel so damn good to get out of this place.”

“I agree,” said Remilia. “Staying in the hospital for long periods of time can feel pretty oppressive.” Her skin suddenly felt a little cold upon saying those words.

“I would have to agree on that,” Duo replied. “I’m not a huge fan of hospitals myself. Oh, yeah, that reminds me.”

“What?”

“What did you want to talk to this Gladion kid about?”

_ Oh, that. _

Remilia motioned Duo to lower himself to her so she can whisper in his ear. “I told him I would forgive him and Hau a lot quicker if Aether pays both your and Quatre’s hospital bills.”  _ And then there’s this Poipole Quatre talked about… but I’m not really obligated to share some information with you… _

The braided boy’s indigo eyes widened when the pink-haired Trainer heard those words. “You-- what? Seriously?”

Remilia simply smiled. “Yeah, seriously. Take it as a kind gesture.” It had also taken her a good amount of convincing Gladion to do just that. She remembers him telling her that this is the only time he is doing this, with her thinking that she wouldn’t dare ask him a second time, considering the boys are basically university students on a tourist vacation.

_ I guess that makes a whole lot of sense since neither the guys nor myself have this world’s currency known as Pokèdollars,  _ Duo thought after hearing her reasons.  _ Remi said what she meant. Heck, if it weren’t for her, God knows how in the hell would we pay for my and Quat’s treatments. Hopefully, there won’t be a next time. _

Remilia turned to the other two pilots. “So, what should we do now? Aside from going to Ula’ula?”

Heero replied, “Logic would point out that we could ‘Mantine-surf’ to the island as we did from Melemele to here.”

“Well, gee, I coulda thought of that,” Duo replied sarcastically, along with an eye roll.

“On the other hand,” Remilia stated. “Ula’ula’s really big, so there are slightly more tourist attractions there than anywhere else.”

“Such as?” Trowa asked.

“Well, there’s Malie Garden, Hokulani Observatory, Tapu Village and Ula’ula Meadow, among a few things.”

Duo quirked up an eyebrow. “Ula’ula Meadow?”

Remilia locked eyes with him. “Yup. Just like with Melemele Meadow, Ula’ula Meadow has a lot of Bug-, Fairy- and Grass-type Pokèmon, the only difference being that it has Baile Oricorio and red-flower Flabèbè and Floette. Oh, and some Ariados and Ledian, too. Although I think the Ariados line only comes out at night.”

“You said Baile Oricorio?” Trowa asked. 

“Yeah. There’s four forms of Oricorio on each island. Melemele has Pom-pom, here on Akala has Pa’u, Ula’ula has Baile and Poni has Sensu. These particular dancing styles have a different primary typing to them: Electric, Fire, Psychic and Ghost, from the nectar they drink.”

“Wow,” Duo breathed, mesmerized. “It sounds pretty cool that a Pokèmon such as this can change types just from drinking flower nectar depending on where they are.”

“It is,” Remilia smiled. “Come on. Let’s go surf our way up to Ula’ula.”

“There is one small problem,” said Heero. “There’s only two Mantine at a time every time we go to a surf spot on a beach.”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something, Heero. Just have faith in me, okay?”

_ Should I be even sure of that,  _ Heero thought. “Let’s go then.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A couple of hours later (with Rotom’s help in providing the map and full cooperation and not being so mouthy, upon Remilia’s threats of a screwdriver), the four arrived at the beach behind Tide Song Hotel. Compared to last time, there were a few more patrons on the beach. The setting remains mostly the same, however.

Remilia spotted the two Mantine relaxing on the line of seafoam and ran up to the pair, Duo, Heero and Trowa following behind. 

“Mantine surfing works like this,” Remilia began to explain, but more to Duo than either Trowa or Heero. “Like the name says, you can surf on top of a Mantine; it’s hardly different from normal surfing.”

“Except for the part where you get eaten by a shark,” Duo snickered, earning light frowns from Trowa and Heero.

Remilia laughed along the remark. “True, but as far as I’m concerned, Sharpedo are extremely curious creatures. They attempt to bite on something, but if that something moves, they think it’s prey trying to get away. If you die, then you die from blood loss.”

Duo shrugged. “Can’t deny that.”

“Speaking of Sharpedo,” Heero spoke up. “I don’t suppose you have one on your Pokè Ride pager?”

“Of course I do,” Remilia replied as she took out her ride pager from her bag. “A Sharpedo is always used as the fastest mode of transport on the water. Totally beats having to pay for a ferry ride. Of course, there’s another Water-type Pokèmon on there called Lapras, although I am a firm believer in using it for whenever I go fishing out in the ocean or in Brooklet Hill.” She winked. “It’s called the Transport Pokèmon for a reason, you know~”

“How fast is Sharpedo?” asked Duo, the hint of excitement evident in his voice and indigo eyes.

The pink-haired Trainer knitted her brows together as she looked up in the sky. Duo almost snickered at that expression; he thought she looked silly doing just that. “As far as I know,” Remilia began to explain after she brought her expression back to normal. “All ride Sharpedo are bred with the Speed Boost ability. Statistically, Sharpedo’s one of the fastest Water-type Pokèmon, only topping the rest of them with Speed Boost.”

The three present pilots listened to her intently, with Duo’s eyes becoming slightly more feral with the words “Speed Boost”. Remilia noticed this and felt a little apprehensive. She couldn’t tell if Duo was getting a little excited at the thought of riding a Sharpedo, or if he might suddenly go berserk again and jump her.

“All these Sharpedo are bred with Speed Boost?” he finally asked.

“Yup,” Remilia answered, unsure of what to say.

“At any rate,” Trowa spoke, trying to ease the tension in the atmosphere (he couldn’t really blame them all; he was as worried as Remilia when Duo spoke of Sharpedo a little, if not so that he might go berserk again). “I strongly suggest we go now before these two strangers figure out we’re leaving for… the next island.” He almost said “Ula’ula,” but with the repetition of the syllables, he’ll likely be fumbling upon that name.

“I call first dibs on the ride Sharpedo!” Duo announced.

“We’re not going to rescue you if you fall off it,” said Heero sarcastically.

“Knock yourself out, then,” Remilia replied, ignoring Heero’s quip and giving the ride pager to Duo. “All you have to do is press a button next to the silhouette of Sharpedo and it’ll get right into that specialized Pokè Ball right here.”

Duo took the ride pager and pressed the button where Remilia directed. The graphic and text glowed suddenly, followed by the Pokè Ball. He pulled out the ball from the ride pager and it suddenly opened, releasing glowing white-blue energy before taking on the form of a Sharpedo, as well wearing riding gear which seems to extend to its pelvic fins (but not completely).

Duo stared at it, wide-eyed. “It’s bigger than I thought. How does that thing even carry its own weight around while swimming?”

“Sharpedo are naturally very fast in the wild,” Remilia replied. “The method for reaching their top speeds of reaching 100 kilometers per hour depends on who you ask, really.”

Unable to come up with something of a reply in relation to it, the braided Deathscythe pilot jogged up to the ride Sharpedo resting on the edge of the beach, careful to not let himself get wet from the tides. “Still, though,” he said. “You can ride a Sharpedo, that’s so freaking cool!”

“You could be saying the same thing for Tauros or Mudsdale,” Heero said dryly.

Duo turned to face the Wing Zero pilot. “Yeah, but they’re sna-- so slow compared to this beast!”

Remilia brought out Flygon from her ride pager and climbed on top of it, deciding to not observe the banter between the two boys. “If you guys are done here, we haven’t got any time to waste. Besides, we all know that I’m going to pick Quatre up later today, so we can go to Ula’ula to join with you guys later.”

Duo’s attention to the Sharpedo suddenly diverts itself to the dragon-like creature before him, and jogged towards it, awe and excitement evidently twinkling in his indigo jewels. “Oh my God what is that?!”

“It’s a Flygon,” Remilia replied, caught off-guard by the braided boy’s sudden attention diversion. “It’s a dual Dragon/Flying-type.”

“Holy crap! Heero! Trowa! Look how green it is! And its wings and tail!”

“Yes. We think it’s amazing,” Trowa replied sarcastically. Whatever supposedly amazing creature or Pokèmon they come across, Duo would always light up like a Christmas tree.

“Hey, Duo?” said Remilia. “I think that ride Sharpedo still has your name on it. It’s way faster than a Flygon and Mantine combined.”

Duo then focused his attention back to the ride Sharpedo.

“You could always race Heero and Trowa while they’re surfing,” Remilia continued.

“That’s a great idea!” Duo replied excitedly. He then jogged back towards the Sharpedo. “Last one to Ula’ula is an Ozzie!”

Remilia let out a sigh of relief while Heero let out a weary sigh as he strode towards the first Mantine he saw. She looked at Trowa, who was still standing, staring, his visible green eye boring into her sky blues as if to say, “What did you even put Duo into?” Even if Trowa literally asks that, Remilia wouldn’t know the answer anyway.

♫♩*~Fighting Boy ~ Tempered to Win - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

Soon, Heero and Trowa are on their respective Mantine and Duo on the ride Sharpedo. As predicted, the Sharpedo sped off, leaving Heero and Trowa behind. Meanwhile, Flygon took to the air as Remilia searched through her bag to get out Rotom and activated the Rotom Finder and set it to record footage like she did when Heero and Trowa tried Mantine surfing for the first time.

As soon as the ride Flygon reached a suitable elevation in the sky, Remilia started recording the pilots, but only got Trowa and Heero into the picture since Duo was riding on the Sharpedo. 

“Here we are, everybody,” Remilia started to commentate. “Once again, we’re back to Heero and Trowa with Mantine surfing, plus a new person that’s a friend of theirs, Duo on a Sharpedo! I’ve also noticed just now that they’ve improved greatly since the last time! All right, they’re picking up speed…”

Heero sped past Trowa and went to the lip of the growing wave. The Mantine beneath him jumped up as he swiftly kneeled and grabbed the handles, and the two of them twisted several times before landing on the surface of the water.

Remilia squealed happily at the sight. “Heero just went and did a Gorebyss Spiral, that’s so cool! Or is a Huntail Spiral? I always get those two mixed up.”

She then turned her eyes to Duo, who, predictably, was having the time of his life. “Okay, I don’t know if you guys could see this right now-- No wait, actually you can’t, but he’s out of the picture as I am recording this. But Duo is  _ zipping _ on the water surface with my ride Sharpedo, it’s almost like it’s been fitted with an ice-skate blade or something! His braid is like, whipping madly right now!”

It is no exaggeration either; the ride sharpedo was undeniably fast with the Speed Boost ability. It’s like riding on a really fast roller coaster, except that you’re practically standing on it! Or, half-sitting, rather. Duo has is butt sticking out, his feet on the footpads, legs almost completely straight, yelling on the top of his lungs almost as if he’s riding a motorcycle, to the point where every time the Sharpedo skids on the water surface, he strikes a pose, usually having his legs in different angles in midair, or just letting go of the handles and quickly placing them back on.

Remilia watches her new braided friend in the meanwhile. She’s happy that Duo’s having a good time after all that has happened today and showing it, compared to Trowa and Heero. Trowa, she actually doesn’t have a problem with since his own facial expressions are subtle, but Heero… Remilia’s annoyed at him because he doesn’t show emotion, even in his voice, which was nothing but sarcasm. She swears that Heero’s a bigger emo edgelord than Gladion, and the latter is emo enough already! The next time Heero blinks, Remilia’s going to make him smile, anything for him to physically express his emotions or what he’s thinking.

At the same time, Remilia’s a little worried about him with the way Duo is doing his own tricks. She’s not really concerned about him jumping off and falling into the water by accident so much as she’s about Duo getting splatted in the face by a Pyukumuku or its innards; or being tripped up by a Wailmer or Wailord, whipped by a Tentacool or Tentacruel, or possibly shanked in the torso by Corsola branches! 

Filing that worry to the back of her head for now, Remilia decided to refocus her attention to Trowa and Heero, who were performing various tricks and stunts on their respective Mantine. It’s unlikely that they cared about the fact that Duo was way, way ahead of them. She also noticed the difference between the two of them in terms of surfing style, for lack of a better term. Heero is somewhat stiff with his stunts, but Trowa is a lot more animated. A couple of times before, Trowa would do an Over-the-Gyarados stunt while spinning four times upside-down before doing a handstand on the gripped handlebars, then swiftly getting back onto his feet. He wasn’t a circus performer for nothing, it seems. 

Back on the ocean’s surface, Duo let out a loud whoop and did another stunt as soon as the ride Sharpedo did another skid. This is definitely the most fun he’s had in a very, very long time. All those thoughts about him attacking Remilia and the concerns about black crystals growing out of his skin settled themselves into the back of his mind. Riding on Sharpedo is the absolute coolest and most fun thing that he’s ever done, and it didn’t look like Remilia was kidding when she said that Sharpedo are even faster with their Speed Boost ability (how Pokèmon work with abilities, neither he nor his fellow pilots know, honestly); but then again, so is Mantine surfing, so maybe next time, he can challenge Heero or Trowa to a surfing race. 

As Duo did another stunt, he begins to notice a dark gray line on the horizon of the water’s surface, plus a large mountainous structure. Is this really Ula’ula Island, Duo had to wonder. It seems kind of large compared to Akala and Melemele, not that Duo’s been to the latter island. 

Too consumed in his awe of Ula’ula, particularly the large mountain that he’s focused on, that the Deathscythe Hell pilot failed to notice that the dark gray beach is actually rapidly coming closer and closer to him. But, as soon as he did, it was too late. The ride Sharpedo skidded as soon as it hit shallow water before toppling over, throwing Duo off in the process and landed on the sandy surface, rolling a few times before stopping, and he managed to get himself into a sitting position, rubbing his head in pain.

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

“Oww,” he said quietly. He realized that his head hurt more than it should have; it must be the concussion from Brynja’s pound to the head from her tail.

Duo checked his hand to make sure he didn’t break anything. Once did, he immediately regretted it around the same time the air got sucked out of his lungs. The black crystals have grown more and increased in size on his skin. More than that, the crystals are starting to encase his fingers. He’s not going to turn into a crystal statue, is he? He flexed his fingers a few times. He still has movement, thank God. That means all he’s getting is just crystal armor, which might or might not possibly be harder than diamonds. 

♫♩*~City Lights - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

He buried his face into his hands, while also feeling very small crystals that have just started to grow along his jawline. It also came with his head hurting very much. It’s got to be the light concussion he’s gotten. It has to be. But there’s this voice ringing inside of his head as if his skull was like a bell. He deduced it’s the same voice in his head back in the Battle Royal arena. That very same voice that only uttered one word.

_ “Light…” _

Duo clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to drive the voice out of his mind. As soon as he did, a very faint figure with a dark rainbow pattern in the center appeared that seemed to blend in with the black void. “Get the fuck outta my head!” he screamed at the voice. “Just who the hell are you?!” 

A little bit of his mind told him that he’s starting to sink--as in, literally sink. As soon as he felt it, he fought back against his migraine long enough to open his eyes and look around. It looked like he was starting to shrink…? He looked down. He saw that the black sand is sinking, all the little rocks moving down to one point. Instinct took over and and Duo tried to escape the forming sand pit before the pit forms fully. But, as soon as he did, one of his legs felt like it was being tugged back down. Becoming frantic, Duo looked around and tried to break free from whatever grabbed him, but as soon as he did, his indigo eyes widened. Within the black sand, it looked like a hand was gripping his ankle. 

“Hey!” Duo cried out. The pit was getting quickly deeper, and Duo started using his hands to break free, but another sandy hand formed and grabbed his shin and started tugging him down. “Who the hell are you!? Cut it out!”

A face began to form within the black sand, along with bright, colorful seashells and what appears to be a small yellow shovel slowly rotating. From that forming face came piercing electric blue pupils that seem to pierce into Duo’s soul.

Now in full-blown panic mode, Duo wildly clawed at the side of the “pit” desperate to escape, but it seemed that the more he tried, the deeper into the pit he was sinking into by this monstrous sand creature. “Help! Someone!” he yelled, almost screaming. “Heero! Someone help me, please!”

As if on cue, two mysterious balls--one a bright glowing green, the other a black-purple--came pummelling down towards the sand monster and striking it, and the sand monster recoiled, appearing to be severely hurt by it, letting go of Duo’s feet at the same time. Duo looked up a second later, eyes widening at the ones who might have sent the balls. It was Nori and Isabelle, and between them, Remilia on her ride Flygon. Isabelle and Nori seemed to be dipping closer to him than the former.

“Nori!” Remilia shouted her Butterfree. “Grab him!”

Nori swiftly flew behind Duo and tucked herself under his braid, the top of her front boss resting on his upper spine. As soon as she did, she latched herself onto him by digging her fangs into his clothes while her little blue hands gripped them tightly. Her red eyes started to glow a bright blue as she surrounded Duo into a bright blue aura, indicating her using the move Psychic to lift him up with near ease. 

Nori started to flap her wings as she lifted Duo out of the black sand as quickly as her mind can handle, and the Deathscythe pilot was hovering far above the sand pit a couple seconds later. 

During that period of time, the sand monster went back to its original shape--a simple-looking sand castle--and tries to grab Duo yet again, but Nori as able to carry him out of the monster’s reach, and set him back down away from it. As soon as Nori did so, she flew back to her master and Isabelle, who just set down Flygon (at a reasonable distance from the sand monster).

Awhile, Duo gets himself back up on his feet, dusting the sand off his jodhpurs, and jogged up to where Nori, Remilia, Flygon and Isabelle. He stopped in his tracks and his eyes went as wide as tea saucers at the sight of the black sand castle monster, who’s becoming increasingly angry.

“What the hell is that thing?!” Duo all but yelled.

“That’s a Palossand!” Remilia replied as soon as she got off of the Flygon. “A shiny one, it looks like!”

“Shiny?!”

Remilia didn’t respond, but hastily dug into her bag to look for something. At last, she pulled out a well-sized plastic container filled with what seems to be colorful candies. She pulled the lid off and took out three pieces of them and threw them into the shiny Palossand’s now-wide open mouth.

The Palossand immediately closed its mouth, and seemed suddenly calm, but then turned to… confused? It tilted its “head” in what seems to be curiosity.

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

Remilia closed the lid and put the candies back in her bag. Beckoning Flygon back into its ball, she then walked away from Duo, who is still shocked and confused at what the hell just went down in such a short time, and around the Palossand, who seems to be following her with its eyes by turning around. She then spots a large storage container underneath some moss-covered rubble, and pulls it out of the shade. She opens the lid and takes out a large green-and-blue bag--which seems to be closed with a large metal clip--lifts it over her right shoulder and sets it on top of it, holding it with both hands to keep it secure. She then walks back to the Palossand--who, thankfully, hasn’t done anything while she’s away--and sets it on the ground. She removes the metal clip and Palossand attempts to grab either her or the bag with its “arms.” 

Unfazed by this, Remilia opens up the bag and pours some dark brown stuff into its open mouth. She lifts the bag back up into an upright position, rolls it up, and places the metal clip back on. The shiny Palossand seems to be pleased.

Remilia walked up to a still-shocked Duo (she had to resist laughing at him because of his Stantler-in-the-headlights look) and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I guess so?” Duo replied, his voice in an unintentional high pitch. He quickly gathered himself and cleared his throat, and continued in a normal tone. “What was that, really?”

“It’s a shiny Palossand,” Remilia explained. “I would only guess that it’s trying to eat you up.”

“Yeah, I kinda gathered that,” Duo said sarcastically.

“It’s not what you think,” Remilia corrected. Before Duo could retort, she cuts him off to continue. “By ‘eating you up,’ I mean that it’s trying to steal your life force to kill you. Palossand is a Ghost/Ground-type Pokèmon, one of the last things you would want to mess with.”

Duo swallowed. So that thing, this Palossand, was going to eat him by draining his life force? That sounds pretty freaky. Though there’s one question that’s starting to nag more than him: why, exactly, did he freak out? Was it survival instinct? Maybe, but if it was, he wouldn’t even be screaming for help and Heero’s name. Heck, Duo  _ loves  _ freaky things such as this; he wouldn’t even mind Ghost-types at all!

“Well,” he finally spoke. “It seems pretty happy now that you’ve fed him with… whatever it is that’s like, well, obviously not alive.”

“That Palossand knows me pretty well,” said Remilia. “I go to this beach daily to feed him Pokèmon food because its other food sources on here are somewhat scarce. It eats up Murkrow from time to time, but even then, it’s constantly hungry.”

“Doesn’t explain these candy-like stuff you threw at it.”

“They’re Pokè Beans. They’re heart-shaped and come in an array of colors and patterns. They’re actually great for Pokèmon because of their high nutrition value, especially Pokèmon who only evolve based on how strong your bond with them is. Personally, I give Pokè Beans to my team as rewards for doing a move just to get stronger or doing a trick I’m teaching them or after they’ve faced a rather tough battle.* They’re also consumable by humans when grinding them up to make their coffee.”

By this point, Duo has a  _ lot  _ of questions running through his head, but doesn’t really know what to ask or where to start. His heart was still racing from the near-death experience at the mercy of the black sand castle Pokèmon known as Palossand (shiny variant). To be honest, Duo really is truly thankful towards Remilia and her Pokèmon for saving his skin back there. But still…

“Sooo,” he asked, deciding to change the subject. “How didja know I was in trouble, anyway?”

“I saw you digging at the sand wildly from above,” Remilia replied. “My mind was racing on what could it be, and worried that it might be a wild Palossand, I sent Nori and Isabelle out of their balls and commanded them to use Energy Ball and Shadow Ball to do some damage to it and hopefully release you.”

“Because Ground is weak to Grass and Ghost is weak to itself,” said Duo in full realization, remembering from his “crash course” with Remila at the Battle Royal Dome. “That’s why that Palossand was in great pain.”

“Yeah.”

Remilia’s eyes drifted to the black crystals growing out of Duo’s skin. She let out a small quiet gasp at the new ones growing. Did he even notice this?

“Duo?” she asked. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Remilia,” replied Duo. “A little shaken up, maybe, but fine regardless. I mean, if it wasn’t for you, I’d be done for.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Duo blinked. “Huh?”

“I’m talking about the crystals on your skin. I’ve just noticed some new ones growing out, particularly from your jawline.”

Duo stroked the crystal with his fingers. “Yeah, I noticed it too as soon as I got onto this beach.”

“And so I’m asking you…” Remilia took a step forward. “Are you really all right, Duo?”

The braided pilot swallowed. “Remilia… I know you’re worried about me, but I really am fine. There’s no need to worry over me, honestly.”

Even after hearing that, Remilia wants to believe him. But can she? “But… what if you start to go crazy again and attack me? Or the others? Or other people? I don’t think even good hard pounding from Brynja’s tail would be enough to snap you out of it.”

Those last few words out of Remilia’s lips cracked slightly along with her voice. Every time she and Duo talk to each other, or whenever she’s around him, she would always feel a slight hint of nostalgia, almost as if she hasn’t seen someone in a very long time. Why is Duo making her feel this way? It’s not just his presence, either; his voice and face look and sound familiar to her, but why is that, exactly?

Duo was able to hear the marginal crack in her voice (albeit oblivious to her theories of this), and let a soft smile form on his face as he placed his hand on the one side of Remilia’s head, the heel of his hand only covering her ear. “I know you’re worried about me, and I can understand that. I can assure you, though, that I won’t go nuts again. I may have black crystals growing out of me like I’ve got tree man syndrome, but I don’t feel all that sick otherwise. Well, aside from a small headache from that concussion I had from Brynja’s tail, really. Besides, if you spend all your time worrying about me, how are you going to worry about yourself? Or your Pokèmon pals?”

Remilia’s cheeks warmed at not only the gesture, but Duo’s words. He might be telling the truth about his physical and mental well-being. He’s also right about her worrying about those two things. If he says that he’s fine, then maybe she shouldn’t press the issue any further. As for Duo rubbing her pink-brown hair, she was tempted to close her eyes and lean in to the touch. It has been a long time since she felt this. But still, as much as she wants to savor it, there’s still one thing she’s got to do.

She reached down into her ruffled shoudler bag and fumbled around in it, and took out a small white bottle and her water bottle. 

Duo removed his hand from her head (a fact that she was grateful for) and looked at the different-sized bottles in curiosity. The water bottle, he can see quite plainly, but what’s in the smaller white bottle? More Pokè Beans?

Remilia puts the water bottle underneath her armpit and twists the cap off of the smaller white bottle. She tips the bottle over and two small circular white pills fall out and onto her open hand. She hands the two pills over to Duo. “Here. This would help relieve your headache.”

Duo took the two pills and put them in his mouth. Remilia hands him her water bottle so he could swallow them whole. He took the bottle and took a few good gulps before handing it back to her. “Thanks. What are those pills, anyway?”

“They’re acetaminophen pills,” Remilia replied as she twisted the cap back on and placed it back in her bag, her water bottle following suit. “I always carry them with me whenever I get a headache on the go.”

Acetaminophen. Duo could guess it works the same way as aspirin if Remilia says that it relieves pain.

A few seconds later, both of them hear Heero and Trowa arrive on the shoreline with their Mantine. 

“Are you both all right?” asked Trowa. “Both Heero and I heard screaming and yelling.”

“We’re both fine,” replied Remilia. “Duo almost got eaten by a Palossand.”

“She means sucking away my life force,” Duo clarified.

“A Palossand?” Trowa repeated. 

Remilia turned to where the Palossand originally was. “I would guess it went back to its nap, then.”

“Thankfully, Remilia here was able to save me,” Duo explained further. “She fed him Pokè Beans and Pokèmon food to appease it, I think.”

“You think,” said Heero.

“She says that the Palossand knows her.”

“Actually,” Remilia stepped in. “It’s more of a case of it trusting me. It’s still wild, though, so it can still eat whatever it wants.”

“Pokèmon food?” Trowa said. “You mean this bag over here?”

Remilia turned to the direction Trowa was pointing at. “Huh? Oh, yeah, that.” She turned back to him. “I still have more food in that large container under the rubble.”

“That Palossand’s not going to eat all this, is it,” said Heero.

“No, it’s not just Palossand. It’s the other Ghost Pokèmon over here.”

Remilia pointed to the direction behind her, and the Gundam pilots followed it with their eyes. On top of the pile of rubble was a wrecked building, which had broken windows, faded exterior coloring and moss growing on the edges. At the base of the stairs is a trial gate, the same one they had seen in Lush Jungle.

“That sounds a lot of work for a Pokèmon Trainer like you, Remi,” Duo commented. 

“When you put it that way, it is,” replied Remilia. “One of the Trial Captains for this island specializes in Ghost-types and gives them a feeding regularly. Since she’s busy with being part of the Elite Four, the job has been passed over to me. The shiny Palossand I fed just now is the most recent; she’s never actually fed that one before.”

“Shiny?” asked Trowa.

“This warehouse is a trial site?” asked Heero, ignoring Trowa’s recent question.

“It’s not a warehouse,” Remilia corrected in her answer. “It’s actually the abandoned Thrifty Megamart.”

“Thrifty Megamart?” Duo repeated.

“Yeah, the other one is actually on Akala, a few miles away from the Battle Royal Dome. This particular Megamart, I was told, was destroyed by Ula’ula’s guardian deity, Tapu Bulu in its rage.”

“Jesus,” Duo commented as he placed his hands on the back of his head. “What made it so pissed off that it went and wrecked the place like it was a Jenga building?”

“This beach and Tapu Village is considered sacred to the Tapu, the people believed,” Remilia continued. “It likely convinced them to relocate to Akala in Royal Avenue.”

“Serves them right, too, I bet,” said Duo, planting his hands on his hips. “If the Alolan people believe that this part of land is sacred to them and these guardian deities, it should be well left alone, not something you can just bulldoze over and place a mart or whatever on it. People are just that damn greedy sometimes.”

“And their greed was their downfall,” said Heero quietly in agreement.  _ Although in the world we had came from… “greed” came together with a lust for power, tyranny, slander, propaganda, oppression… and extremism.  _

“Although what I do not particularly get,” Trowa spoke. “As to why Tapu Bulu waited until shortly after it was constructed and open to the public just to destroy it and put it in ruin.”

Remilia simply shrugged. “Wish I knew. They say that the Alolan people have to live with even the whims of Pokèmon, the guardian deities especially, from time to time.”

There was a very brief moment of silence before Remilia spoke again. “I’m gonna go and feed the Ghost Pokèmon up there. Is anybody gonna help me out?”

“Why are you asking that?” Duo inquired. “You’ve got a two-thirds empty bag, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but there’s another bag that’s all full in the storage container over there, and I can’t carry both on my shoulders, so I need an extra pair of shoulders for the job.”

“You said there is just Ghost Pokèmon, correct?” asked Trowa. “Perhaps I can help.”

“Yeah, lots of them, as well as a few that aren’t even Ghost-type but reside here anyway.”

“Oh? Such as?”

“Like, Klefki. Gengar, Haunter, Shuppet, Banette, Mimikyu, a  _ bunch _ of territorial Golbat, among others…”

“Actually, I’m gonna volunteer,” Duo interrupted.

“Really, now?” asked Heero with sarcasm evident in his husky monotone voice. “Approximately two-point-seven minutes ago, you seem to be scared of this Palossand.”

“I was not  _ scared,  _ Heero,” Duo argued. “I was tryin’ to survive! I thanked my lucky stars that Remilia, Nori and Isabelle saved my ass before I became his next meal!”

“On the contrary, I recall hearing you call out my name.”

Duo’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Now that you mention it, I think I do, too,” said Trowa.

Duo’s cheeks dusted pink before turning back to Remilia. “Um, wh-where you say the rest of the Pokèmon food is?”

“It’s in the container underneath the ruined stairs,” replied the pink-haired trainer. “I’ll show you.”

As soon as the two of them took a couple paces forward, they heard Trowa clear his throat behind them and turned to look at him. 

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Remilia?” he asked.

“Huh?” Remilia looked around very briefly before her eyes set on the Ride Sharpedo, who was laying down on one of its sides. “Oh, yeah, right! Thanks for reminding me!”

Remilia then ran up to the Brutal Pokèmon and absorbed it back into its special Pokè Ball. 

“By the way,” Trowa said to Duo. “I believe you need to improve your parking somewhat.”

“Hey, it ain’t my fault that this Sharpedo things so damn fast you’ll feel like your piloting a mobile suit with a high inertia rate!” Duo retorted.

“Uh, what’s this about mobile suits and inertia rate?” Remilia asked as she overheard those strange words.

Duo turned to her fast looking as if he was caught doing something he shouldn’t. “U-um, eh…”

“I don’t believe this concerns you, Remilia,” said Heero.

Remilia felt slightly miffed at the tone of voice Heero used, but opted out on responding to it. “Okay, then. Duo, Let’s go.”

“Right!” said Duo with an enthusiastic smile.

The two teenagers walked side by side, engaging themselves in a new conversation related to the Ghost and non-Ghost Pokèmon living in the abandoned Thrifty Megamart, plus the fact that the place is a trial site of one of Ula’ula’s Captains, Acerola.

As soon as their conversation became muted, Heero let out a long-compressed breath of air and sat down on the dark sand, legs crossing each other and resting his lower arms on his bare knees. 

Trowa did the same except that he wrapped his arms around his bent legs, bringing his knees almost up to his chin and then asking the Wing Zero pilot, “Rough day?”

Heero turned his head to him. “I’m not sure. Maybe.”

The Heavyarms pilot shrugged. “I guess I can’t blame you, since a whole lot has happened today.” He looked up to the sky at the passing clouds. “First Duo gets black crystals growing out of his skin, then his assault on Remilia and subsequent hospitalization.”

“And then there’s Quatre’s eye and hand injury,” Heero added. “And his mention of the two strangers and his tangle with their Poipole.”

“Plus his theory that they might be after Duo for whatever it is they’re planning to do with him. Or what they think he has and on what they intend to do with it.”

_ Stranger still…  _ Heero thought. _ Is my progressive “magnetic pull” towards Duo. Maybe he might be feeling the same as I am.  _ Heero dreaded what would happen if he and Duo made any skin contact with each other, but he dared not to think about that. And it’s not just his “magnetic pull” towards him that he’s worried about; there’s the additional note of him faintly glowing with sparkles translucently showing through his skin, moving, as if they were flowing within his bloodstream. He never made any mention of this to the others back in the hospital, but he feels like his glowing body is one of the clues they have gathered. Even then, their theories were weak at best and illogical at worst. Maybe… maybe they just don’t know enough yet. Maybe the rest of the answers they’re seeking has to be from those two strangers. Since they’re after Duo and possibly Heero himself, those two have to have at least some knowledge about what is going on with their bodies so that they can figure out a way to stop… whatever it is that’s been happening to them all day today.

Heero’s body glowing is not the only thing that’s concerning him as of yet. Ever since Duo got knocked out by Remilia’s Primarina’s pound of her tail, he has been hearing dull, resonating echoes in his head, almost as if his skull was a bronze shrine bell and somebody’s been slamming it from time to time. As far as Heero’s concerned, there has only been some discomfort in his head, but nowhere near the level of migraines Duo has been having. In fact, whenever he’s around near him, he could hear those resonating echoes, many different voices being said and sung all at once. It’s not painful, but enough to be disconcerting to Heero.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Trowa, stopping Heero’s train of thought.

Heero faced his sapphire blue eyes towards his comrade’s forest greens. “What about your thoughts on today’s current events? I mean, about what we have just talked about.”

Trowa went silent for a short moment. “I was thinking about what Quatre said about the two strangers. What they want with Duo. I was also thinking about whether Quatre wanted answers from them before he got attacked.”

“I don’t think Quatre asked for answers about why Duo’s… condition is what it is,” replied Heero. “He told us he told them to leave Duo and me alone, but they nearly mortally wounded him for ‘interfering’.”

“Yeah, Duo I can understand, but why involve you in this? I don’t think you have anything to do with all this.”

“And yet Quatre speculates that Duo and I might be in danger, possibly more gravely so if something bad were to happen.”

Trowa shifted himself. “Well, once Duo and Remilia get back out from feeding the Pokèmon in the Thrifty Megamart wreckage, she’ll pick up Quatre and bring him here. He might be discharged from the hospital, anyway.”

“Right.”

The two Gundam pilots sat in silence or several more minutes--listening to the ocean tides awhile (while admittedly soothing, it only alleviated a little bit of Heero’s concerns of what had just transpired today)--when they heard the sound of feet digging into the black sand for every step they took. Spotting the familiarity in their sound, they brought their heads up to see Remilia and Duo approaching them. They took notice of Duo, his clothes were a little rumpled and this braid is in a light mess, like a frayed rope, and Remilia’s Mismagius, Isabelle, who floated alongside them.

“Sorry we took so long,” said Remilia. “Duo got into a play session with some of the Shuppet, Klefki and Mimikyu at some point while we were feeding them.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Duo. “I was  _ forced  _ into a play session! Forced is the opposite of willingly, ya know!”

“I trust that all the Ghost Pokèmon and miscellaneous were all fed aside from the shiny Palossand?” asked Heero as he got up, with Trowa following suit.

“Yep!” replied Remilia with a smile. “All their tummies are full, so they’re all happy and satisfied.”

“Then why bring your, um…” Trowa started to ask. “What was that Pokèmon again?”

“The nickname or her species name?”

“Either way’s fine. Besides, I do remember her nickname.”

“Isabelle’s species is Mismagius.”

“Right, Mismagius. Why did you bring her along with you?”

“Remilia told me Isabelle’s always the one that makes the peace talks with the wild Ghost Pokèmon,” Duo explained. “So it’s pretty much a ‘you don’t harm her or I’ll harm you,’ that sort of thing.”

“I see.”

“I should be picking up Quatre,” Remilia announced to the boys. “He should be discharged from the hospital by now.”

“How long should the round trip be?” asked Heero.

“Around twenty, thirty minutes tops. It depends on when he’s out, really.”

“Ugh,” Duo groaned. “We’d be bored out of our minds during that time.”

“You fidget with your braid,” said Heero. “That gives you something to do.”

“It’s not my fault I get bored easily!”

“Well, you guys got those two Mantine over here,” said Remilia, pointing to the two Mantine Heero and Trowa surfed on, trying to diffuse the situation. “Maybe you guys could hold a little surfing contest or something. Or maybe practice your stunts and tricks.”

Duo’s indigo eyes lit up. “That’s actually a cool idea!”

“At the very least, Mantine are somewhat slower than a Speed Boost Sharpedo,” said Trowa.

Duo glared at him. “Excuse you, Tro!”

Deciding to ignore the banter, although smiling in amusement, Remilia summoned Isabelle back into her Heal Ball and took out her ride pager to summon Flygon. As soon as she did, she climbed on top of it, and it lifted itself off the ground with two great flaps and flew off to Akala, disappearing into the bright but hazy blue sky.

****************30 Minutes Later***************

Remilia arrived back on Ula’ula’s black beach along with Quatre, who’s officially discharged from the hospital in Heahea City (Remilia previously mentioned to him that Aether paid for his and Duo’s treatments in exchange for something, but she’d rather not tell him yet), landing softly on the pitch sand. As they climbed down from the ride Flygon, Remilia looked around a bit for the rest of the boys, and her eyes widened at the… particularly funny sight before her and Quatre.

Trowa and Heero were dripping wet, with the former wringing out his large bang and trying to restore its original hold, but only in vain. Heero, meanwhile, is wringing out his dark green tank top in an effort to get the excess salt water out. Duo was just standing at a distance away from them, unscathed, laughing his ass off at their apparent predicament.

Remilia failed to stop the smirk that formed on her face, while Quatre just looked confused. Remilia jogged ahead of him to speak to Duo while the Sandrock pilot just walked.

“So what exactly happened while I was away?” asked Remilia with amusement evident in her voice. “You guys get wrecked by a Wailord or something?”

“You could say that,” Heero answered for Duo. “Duo is the only one that escaped unscathed.”

Duo gathered himself enough to start talking. “I didn’t ‘escape unscathed’, all I did was do a stunt over that, that Wailord! Heck, I didn’t even know that Wailord was even there in the first place! Haha!”

“Yeah, those things are pests,” Remilia said. “Another reason why quit Mantine surfing.”

“Ohh, I don’t know. I think surfing on a Mantine is just as fun as racing on a Sharpedo!”

“Which could get you water-ticketed if there is such a thing,” Trowa quipped as he was taking his turtleneck shirt off wring out the excess water.

Ignoring the hot blush forming on his cheeks, Quatre inquired, “So did you two get caught off-guard by that Wailord?”

“Wiped out’s a more accurate term, Quatre,” said Remilia.

“All right, wiped out. But still, you two could have drowned because of that Wailord!”

“Sports come with risks that would get slapped at you like a paddle if you’re not trained to be careful, don’t tell me you don’t know that!”

“I do, it’s just--!”

“Ahh jeez,” said Duo, deciding to intervene. “First I got Remi as a worrywart and you too, Quat?”

Quatre blinked his visible eye. “Remilia was a worrywart?”

_ Whoops, maybe mentioning that was not a good idea! _ thought Duo as soon as he realized what he had said. “Um, yeah. On another note, though, how’s your eye and hand? I know the nurses and doctors say that your chem burns from that Poipole isn’t as severe as once thought, so, uhh…”

“Doing okay,” Quatre replied. “They said would take up to several weeks for my eyelid and hand to heal completely. They also said I could take the bandages off after that time period, although they did say there will be significant disfigurement on my eyelid.”

“At least you won’t be the next Prince Zuko, heh.”

“Who’s Prince Zuko?” Remilia asked.

“Really long story,” Duo replied.

Remilia opted not to say anything back, and turned her attention to Heero and Trowa with intent evident in their body language that they’re going to wring out as much water from their soggy wet clothes as much as possible. Translated loosely, it would take up to a few hours for their clothes to dry somewhat, now knowing the fact that Duo does get bored rather easily…

“You guys need some help?” she asked the two of them.

Both the Gundam pilots were about to take their bottoms off next when they heard their pink-haired friend ask her offer of assistance and looked straight at her.

Trowa became the first to break the silence. “How, exactly, are you going to help us?”

Remilia opened her Gorebyss fanny pack and took out her Ultra Ball to release Shayde, her Salazzle. “I just had a thought, actually. Shayde could use her heat to make your clothes dry a little faster.”

“She’d better not put our clothes on fire,” Heero warned icily.

Remilia decided to ignore the tone Heero just used. “She won’t, I promise you. Besides, Shayde’s hands, feet and tail glow only furiously when she’s about to use her Fire-type moves, but they glow softly whenever she warms up my bed or my clothes, so it’s no problem, really.”

Taking in the pink-haired Trainer’s information about her Toxic Lizard Pokèmon, Heero resumed taking his the rest of his clothes off, same with Trowa (sans their underwear), along with their socks and shoes. After their bottoms and socks have been wrung out (with Heero squeezing out the remaining water from his gold sneakers), Shayde picks up Heero’s tank top and bicycle shorts firstly and her hot pink palms glowed very softly, as Remilia had said. Meanwhile, Heero and Trowa only sat down on the black sand and brought their knees to their chest in a rather feeble attempt and covering their partial nudity as possible. Trowa could tell that Quatre was just staring with a pink face, and, to be brutally honest, it actually embarrassed him.

After approximately more than fifteen minutes, Shayde’s hot pink markings stopped glowing and set Heero’s clothes down and proceeded with his loose socks and gold-colored sneakers, spending a shorter amount of time on them. Once she was done she proceeded to dry off Trowa’s turtleneck shirt. The process took a little longer than Heero’s main clothes because of the length of the sleeves, even though it’s no thinner than Heero’s tank top. Once the turtleneck is done, Shayde moved on to Trowa’s light gray skinny jeans; the process took even longer due to the fact that the material is denim like other types of jeans and compared to Heero’s tank top and Trowa’s turtleneck, the threads are a little more compressed compared to them. When the drying is finally done, Shayde moved on to dry up Trowa’s socks until they’re completely dry.

Shayde then laid all of the two Gundam pilot’s clothes flatly on the sand once she was done. Noticing this, Heero got out of his fetal sitting position and touched his tank top with his hands, and to his surprise, it’s actually dry and fluffy. Telling Trowa that their clothes are now dry, the Heavyarms pilot caught up to them and proceeded to dress themselves, ignoring their now-partially dry underwear that’s almost sticking to their hips, buttocks and groin. 

“You guys ready to go now?” Remilia asked them as soon as they got dressed.

“Yes, we are,” Trowa answered, adjusting the hem of his turtleneck shirt.

“All right. Let’s check the map on the Rotom Dex and see where we’re at.”

“I thought we already know where we’re at,” said Duo, a little confused.

“Yeah, but this is you guys’ first time in Alola, therefore, you have no idea where you are.”

“I guess that’s a fair point.”

Remilia then opens her white ruffled shoulder bag only for Rotom to jump out, startling her, Duo, and Quatre.

“Rotom at your service! Zzzt!” said Rotom cheerfully. It then turned its gaze towards Quatre, noticing the bandages on his face and head and hand. “You’re lookin’ well, zzt.”

“Well, I’d rather feel well without your rude comments, thanks,” said Quatre, frowning as much as he could with his facial injuries as he crossed his arms.

“Can you open the map, please, Rotom?” asked Remilia in a tone that very clearly states that she is  _ not  _ in the mood for Rotom’s rude and immature shenanigans.

“Can do! Zt!” Rotom answered rather enthusiastically. 

The screen changed from its mouth to the map of Ula’ula, while also revealing where Remilia and the Gundam pilots are. Remilia pointed out the red upside-down teardrop on the screen. “This is where we currently are,” she explained. “Which is Route 14.” She then traced her finger to a red trapezoid. “And farther up north is where the Pokèmon Center is, which is west of Tapu Village.” She pointed her finger to the dark gray dot she had recently indicated as Tapu Village. “Farther east is Route 13 followed by a motel and farther east is Blush Mountain and Route 12; from there it gets rockier and a lot more barren until Route 11 and from there, it heads to Malie City. Any of those locations could be where your last missing friend might be.”

The Gundam pilots gathered around Rotom listened intently and paid attention to the movements of the female Pokèmon Trainer’s index finger. After some deep thinking, Heero finally said, “Our comrade is unlikely in Tapu Village, much less Route 13 or Blush Mountain on Route 12.”

“So the more likely location for him would be either in Route 11, Malie City or possibly Malie Garden,” Quatre thought out loud.

“From where we are to Route 11 is a very long trip,” said Remilia. “Like I said, it’s harder for ride Pokèmon to take any of us anywhere on this island due to its size, you’d have to take the bus to get to wherever you want to be.”

“Are there any bus stops between here and Malie City?” Heero asked.

“I’m zzoomed out, so you can’t see from that magnification, zzt,” Rotom answered for Remilia, which she did not even object to. “And I don’t think I can zoom in either, which iz a shame.”

Remilia placed her thumb and index finger together on the touch screen and zoomed in a little. Once satisfied, she uses her finger yet again to locate any possible bus stops. Her eyes were able to catch a little blue icon with a white pictograph of a bus front. “There’s one that’s next to the motel,” she pointed at the icon. “And then there’s one at the base of Blush Mountain. There’s also several more bus stops within Malie City.”

“So here’s what we have to do,” said Duo. “We use the ride Pokèmon to get to the bus stop on Route 13, and then we take the bus to Malie City.”

“I think that seems to be a reasonable plan,” said Quatre.

“Yes, I think so, too,” said Trowa in agreement.

“It’s settled, then,” said Remilia as Rotom closed the map and returned to her bag.

She then takes out her ride pager and summons Mudsdale and Tauros. Getting into the same positions as last time (more for Heero and Duo’s sake than anything else), the five teenagers then trotted off to the barren lands of Route 13. Heero and Duo, in the meanwhile, silently prayed that nothing bad happens to them both; the last thing they need is a total disaster on their hands, and, additionally, their friends, too, especially the one that might be on this island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wufei will be appearing in the next chapter, don't worry!


	10. Ambitions (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just nine more chapters and the epilogue to go~! Don't you guys feel excited? =D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Route 11, Ula’ula~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~Magma Rift - Sonic Free Riders~*♫♩

The boy with the slick black hair and dark eyes stared rather menacingly at the (presumably) costume-clad individual before him. Or at least tried to; this fellow all dressed up in pink and brown with a thick striped tail, white snout, beady eyes and white ears popped up out of nowhere and started attacking him! Indeed, his own strength is powerful enough to smash down bamboo and tall, thick trees with his own fists and feet!

But even so, Wufei Chang is not one to back down from a challenge as this, even though the circumstances are somewhat unusual. He had only just encountered that fellow while walking down through the path consisting of just trees of regular and bamboo, even he found it rather odd that this fellow, this person dressed up like some sort of mascot, wants to fight. 

Wufei then lets out a battle cry and charges towards the mascot-like individual. The person in the costume has a lot of strength, but Wufei is faster than him. He spun halfway and attempted to deliver a kick to the mascot, but he was able to block it with just his large paws and deflect it away. Luckily, Wufei had become mindful of the mascot’s strength and drew his leg away at the same rate as the one before him spread out his paw. The process repeated itself several times, with Wufei alternating between kicks and punches until finally backing off.

The Altron pilot took several heavy breaths to catch himself while also in an attempt to slow his heart rate, planting his hands on his bent knees. “I guess you’re a lot stronger and smarter than I thought,” he said between breaths. “But the real question is…” He then stood up straight. “Do you still think you’re a match for me?”

The mascot-clad fellow placed his paw onto his snout and tilted his head slightly in thought, wiggling his white ears just once, as if in thought.

Wufei ignored this and said, “I guess I’ll have to answer it for you then! Prepare yourself!”

He charged at the mascot yet again, this time attempt to look for his weak spots to hit as easily as possible, but was unfortunately met with blocks to his kicks and punches. If this keeps up, Wufei would most likely be out of energy to fight. he deducted that this mascot fighter used several defensive techniques to block his attacks, his strength being more than enough to repel them (with Wufei following the movements, as he would be seriously injured if he is not careful). He’s not really sure how long he can keep this up, but Wufei isn’t the type to give up rather easily.

  
  


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Route 12*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Facing the Wind - Namco x Capcom~*♫♩

The bus wasn’t very crowded, but to the relief of Remilia and her new guy friends. There were only a few people, including an old woman with a strange plushie-like Pokèmon on her lap sleeping contentedly, with the woman stroking its fur on occasion. Remilia explained to the boys that it’s a Stufful, which is a Normal/Fighting-type. Heero took over the explanation, saying that Stufful dislikes being touched from complete strangers, and even one barely touching it would lay the individual sprawling; it even has enough strength to fell a professional wrestler. Remilia jokingly asked Heero where he got such knowledge of this, and the Wing Zero pilot replied that he was studying the Pokèdex during her and Duo’s match at the Battle Royal dome, which lead to Remilia sheepishly admitting that she must have forgotten about that fact at some point.

After the conversation on the subject, Remilia loosens her black-and-red trekking shoe off and proceeds to massage her foot.

Quatre took note of the sudden but light odor of her shoe and crinkled his nose slightly. “What are you doing?”

Remilia turned to look at him to answer. “Walking around on three different islands for several hours can do wonders to your feet. It feels sooooo good just to get off your feet and give them a good hard rub. Are any of your feet tired?”

Quatre swallowed as he thought for a moment. “My legs  _ are  _ a little tired, but I don’t know about my feet.”

Remilia then turned to the rest of the pilots, Duo especially, as he sat a little farther away from them. “What about you guys?” she called out, while also trying to keep her volume at a reasonable level. “Are your legs and feet tired from all that walking?”

“I think my legs are aching slightly,” Trowa replied. “But I otherwise feel fine.”

“I never really felt anything,” replied Heero as well.

“My legs feel fine, I think,” Duo called out to answer. “It’s the light headaches I have a problem with, but otherwise, I think I feel fine, at the very least.”

“Well, I couldn’t give you anymore of the acetaminophen after forty minutes have passed, so I think it might be best to wait some time longer before your headache recedes.”

“On the contrary, I think something stronger than acetaminophens would be something I need because of me getting damn constant headaches!”

“I don’t have that sort of thing, unfortunately.”

Duo pouted slightly in response. But, it would be best for him to take Remilia’s advice and wait for the medicine to work its magic and relieve his headache, and, maybe, his migraines. If it doesn’t, he could always ask Remilia for more of the acetaminophen relieve his headache. And if that second dose doesn’t work, then he would have to contemplate suicide (not that he would, anyway, the constant voices in his head notwithstanding). 

Duo took yet another look at his hand. More black crystals are growing out of it, but thankfully, not as a fast rate as he had thought (he has also been experiencing some upper back pain for some time). He took a glance at Heero, who was sitting next to Trowa, and before them, Quatre and Remilia sitting next to each other. The voices echoing in his head have returned, all repeating the word “light” over and over again like a broken record; other times, they say “give me light” repeatedly as well. Duo has been fighting against the voices ever since they started showing up, but he has been finding it increasingly hard to fight back against them, the constant headaches making it worse for him. And there’s his “magnetic pull” towards Heero; he wonders if he felt the same thing, but he’s also afraid of what might happen if they get too close to each other or possibly accidentally brush against each other with their the fabrics of their clothing or even their skin. This is actually the reason why Duo chose to sit far away from the group as much as possible. And he has to do so until he tries to figure out a solution.

Remilia, meanwhile, goes on her knees to stand on the bus seat and peeks at Duo, who appears to have his head down slightly, with a dismal expression underneath his ragged bangs and his hands on his lap. He also noticed that his hands are almost completely black and a few more black crystals have grown out of his face with possibly two slightly jutting out of his head, far away from his temples.

Quatre happens to notice this and asks her, “What’s wrong, Remilia?”

Having heard his question, Remilia returns to her original position and replies to him, “It’s Duo. I’ve noticed he’s grown a few more black crystals on his hands plus new ones on his head.”

Quatre straightened his only visible brow as best he could due to his bandaged eye. He dared to take a glance at the Deathscythe Hell pilot behind Heero and Trowa noted the unusual traits of him as Remilia did. He also noticed that his skin has gotten a little paler. He looked really sick, and it’s not just because of his headache. “He looks so miserable hunched over like that.”

_ You don’t have to tell me that, you know,  _ Remilia thought. “I agree. This is the first time I’ve seen him look this way.”

“This is my first time, too.”

The pink-haired Trainer’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait… You mean… you’ve never seen him like this before during the time you guys have been friends?”

Quatre nodded. “Yes. I would only confess that we’ve only been so for over a year, and this is the first time I’ve seen Duo like this. Even if it isn’t, Duo would just hide his pain and sadness with his usual attitude, along with a big smile.”

Remilia became confused by Quatre’s response, but nonetheless said, “What about Heero and Trowa?”

“Trowa, I honestly do not know about, but Heero…” Quatre swallowed. “He seems somewhat closer to him than any one of us. Although he seems like he doesn’t want anything to do with him. It’s hard to tell, really, given the stoic nature he has.”

“Well, why not just tell Heero to help Duo somehow?” A thousand naughty thoughts suddenly flooded Remilia’s head, but she quickly pushed them away, given the seriousness of the situation.

Quatre swallowed again. “I don’t think… that might be possible.”

Remilia knitted her brows together. “Why not, exactly?”

The Sandrock pilot sighed. “When you left to fetch Hau and… um, what was the blonde boy’s name?”

“Gladion.”

“Gladion, right. When you left to fetch Hau and Gladion, we were having a short discussion on the two strangers. During, Heero confesses that he feels like he was being ‘pulled’ towards Duo like a magnet. I believe that Duo must be feeling the same thing Heero might be feeling.”

“And?”

Quatre blinked, feeling a little nervous all of a sudden. “That’s all he said. Heero didn’t even elaborate on that.”

“How come? Was it because of his ‘stoic nature?’”

The blonde pilot got a little miffed because of her sarcasm, but decided to ignore it. “It might be. It could also be because we might not know enough about how Heero and Duo are feeling and why that’s occurring. We also speculated that the--”

“The two strangers you got into a pickle with might have something to do with all this,” Remilia finished, now fully understanding what he is saying.

“That’s right.”

Remilia turned away from the blonde Sandrock pilot to face her hands on her lap, which are now clenched into fists, thinking up multiple ways to tear those two strangers a new one--physically--not only for hurting Quatre with their Poipole, but for possibly stalking Heero and Duo and making them suffer. She’ll never forgive them for what they’ve been doing to them, like she’ll never forgive that bitch-queen Lusamine for making her girlfriend Lillie and her Cosmog Nebby suffer.

Taking a moment of herself to calm down and to push those violent and angry thoughts out of her head (for the time being), Remilia lifted her head up, breathing lightly, to let the air trapped in her lungs escape. After, she saw two figures moving swiftly in a blur. The first figure she sees is a human… and a Bewear…?

♫♩*~Complicated Fuselage - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

Completely realizing the situation, Remilia scrambled out of her seat and climbed on top of Quatre, her knees on his lap and ignoring his protests, and reached up to pull the thin cream cord to signal the driver to stop. Much to her relief, the driver did, and grabbing her ruffled shoulder bag from the floor, she ran towards the open doors as fast as the restricted space would allow her.    
  


Confused, the Gundam pilots (including Duo) ran after her, wondering what the heck has gotten into her.

As soon as Remilia stepped out of the bus doors, the two figures became clearer to her: it really is a Bewear and a person, and the Bewear looks like it might be attacking it. With quick thinking, she wasted no time in getting out her Pokè Ball with the rainbow bubble on it and threw it up in the air. “Hey, you!” she cried out to them. “Get back! Brynja! Moonblast!”

Brynja’s Pokè Ball opened and released her, landing on the dirt ground smoothly. As soon as Brynja did, she held her front flippers parallel to each other and a bright blue ball started to form, surrounded by a light pink glow and several beautiful sparkles. The ball grew and grew until it was swiped towards the Bewear, making contact with the ground, creating a large explosion in which the person was blasted several feet away from the path, the Bewear meeting the same fate.

Wufei, who was caught off-guard from the blast and its impact (well, he did notice the strange glowing ball, and he did hear someone call out to him awhile, but by the time he did, it was too late), was sent flying from the dirt path and into the border of the bamboo trees, landing on his side and rolling several times before coming to a stop and rolling onto his back, wondering what the hell just happened. Slowly getting himself up and struggling briefly to stand upright, the Altron pilot decided to do just that and give whoever blasted this ball of energy quite the earful. 

♫♪~*No BGM*~♫♪

Meanwhile, Remilia and the boys looked around to see what had happened just now. Duo became the first to ask, “What the heck has gotten into you just now?”

Remilia turned to him to answer, but was interrupted by someone yelling, “Just what the hell happened here?!”

She turned around fast and saw an oriental-looking boy--roughly the same age as Duo and the rest of the boys-- with jet-black hair tied into a short ponytail, dark brown (almost black) eyes and wearing a blue tank top with white pants held by a black sash and black flats. The boy had a very intense glare on his face, a glare strong enough to break glass.

“I almost got killed back there!” he shouted.

“I yelled at you to get the hell away from the blast, did I not?!” Remilia shouted back, matching her scowl with the boy’s. “Aside, are you okay?”

“Do I seriously look okay?!”

“Well, sorry you got a little injured, but the least you could do say thank you!”

“I didn’t need any rescuing, you little bitch! I was doing just fine against that guy until you showed up!” The boy looked at the other pilots. “At the very least, I’m glad that I found you all.”

“‘Against?!’” Remilia yelled. “Are you fucking asinine?! You picked a fight with a Bewear?! Do you have any idea how dangerous those things are?!”

The boy looked back at the girl. “Well define dangerous, dangerous as in ‘pedophile’ or ‘serial child killer?’”

“I’m serious! That’s not a person in a costume, even though it looks like it! It’s a living, breathing Bewear, and you should have known full well to stay the hell away from it!”

“It charged at me, so I had to defend myself!”

“Because you were in its territory! They also have more than enough strength to break bones with just a light touch! If it was a Pangoro, you’d have been cut to ribbons with their long claws!”

“Remilia’s telling the truth, Wufei,” Heero spoke up calmly, catching Remilia and the boy’s attention. “Bewear are generally oblivious to their own strength and have a tendency to break things accidentally, even when showing affection, so their Trainers must teach them to mind their strength at all times.”

Remilia looked at Wufei with a look that very clearly says “I told you so” and “See, Heero’s telling the truth, so what’s your excuse now, punk?” at the same time, while Wufei’s expression changed from anger to looking like he’s going to throttle the hell out of Heero, indicating that he’s still not believing the information given to him.

Sensing this, Quatre decided to intervene by walking up to Wufei and said to him, “Wufei, there’s a lot to get you up-to-date on, and I’d rather if we do so privately.”

“Well, you can start by telling me what happened to your face, Quatre,” said Wufei bitterly, more so when he spoke the Sandrock pilot’s name.

Quatre sighed. “I can’t deny that’s a part of all this, really. Come on.”

He led the Altron away from the group as far away as possible, where they would be less likely to be heard from them--Remilia in particular--all the while praying to God that Wufei doesn’t overreact (like he sometimes does) to what Quatre would say when he speaks up.

Remilia, meanwhile, has been watching the scene unfold in front of her, with a few questions running around through her head like Cutiefly gathering pollen from flowers. Then she planted her hands on her hips and asked, “Yeesh. What’s his problem? He sounds like he’s got a pole up his butt or something.”

“He almost always has a pole up his butt,” said Duo. 

Remilia turned to look at him in his indigo eyes. “And you said that he’s your friend?”

Duo shrugged. “Kinda. He’s just a part of our group.”

“At the very least, I am glad that we found all of us,” said Trowa. “We can still continue our tour of Alola.”

“Oh, yeah, speaking of…” said Remilia. “How long did you guys say you’re staying in Alola for your vacay?”

Heero and Trowa looked at each other as if to say, “Why don’t you tell her, I’ve got nothing at this point.” Eventually, Heero made the choice for both of them by replying, “We were planning on vacationing here for up to a week. University classes are out for half a month, so we decided to go to Alola to do some sight-seeing. And besides, it was Quatre’s idea from the get-go.”

“I see,” Remilia mused. “So, is this your first day here, or…?”

“Our first day, actually,” said Duo.  _ If it was any other day other than our first, I’m extremely doubtful you would believe us when we said that we’ve booked a hotel on any of the islands and you would be flabbergasted that we weren’t actually booked in any of those.  _ “We actually haven’t decided on a hotel yet, to be honest.”

“You haven’t?” Remilia inquired curiously.

Duo shook his head. “Uh-uh.”

“I’m sure there’s some hotels on Ula’ula.” She reached into her bag, half-expecting her Rotom Dex to jump out of there--which it did, sure enough.

“Whatcha want, zzt?” it asked in its usual enthusiastic tone.

“Switch to your map so I can look up any hotels on this island, Rotom,” Remilia instructed. 

“You got it, zt!”

Rotom then changed its mouth display to the map of Route 11--with a blue blip indicating the current location of Remilia and the Gundam pilots--albeit zoomed out. Like she did previously on Route 14, Remilia zoomed in using her thumb and index finger, spreading them out to get a closer look and using said index finger top move the map around to get to Malie City. As she thought, they’re still ten plus miles away from the city itself. Saving it for later, she looked around for any hotels that the boys would have to stay in for a few nights. After a minute, Remilia was able to find one--named the Malie Seaside Hotel--that was placed northwest to Malie Garden.

“There, I found it,” she spoke up, loud enough to catch Duo, Heero and Trowa’s attention. “There’s Malie Seaside Hotel, which is next to Malie Garden; opposite of it is the Malie Outer Cape, where the… Outer Cape Disposal is, except that it’s far away from the hotel, predictably.”

“Outer Cape Disposal?” Duo repeated.

“Yeah. As the name says, this place handles waste of all kinds and has several recycling facilities separate from the main company. The waste disposal area has Alolan Grimer and Muk to eat most trash so that Ula’ula and the other islands stay clean.”

“That sounds pretty cool.”

“Also extremely convenient,” Trowa added.

“I doubt that these Alolan Grimer and Muk do this, but do they also eat plastic and anything else that’s non-perishable?” Heero inquired.

“They don’t actually,” Remilia answered. “The reason being is that glass, plastic and metal is pretty harmful to a Muk or Grimer, depending on how much they eat. In general, they either jut out their slimy bodies or stick to them, but the effect varies from material to material. Also the danger level they pose on them.”

“So not even trash-eating Pokèmon like the Muk like are immune to plastic,” Heero mused under his breath.

_ Makes me feel tempted to stay here indefinitely, _ Duo thought.  _ Everybody here takes great care of the environment they live in, compared to back home. _

“Yeah, and the best part is that the Muk line controls their toxic scents compared to the regular ones in other regions,” said Remilia. “You won’t be able to smell ‘em even if you tried. It’s like trying to smell carbon monoxide, except that you won’t get sick from the smells they emit from their bodies.”

“Hmmm,” Trowa mused. “We used to have a regular Grimer that sometimes hangs around at the campus. We didn’t know if it was a stray or belonged to someone else, but it likes to hug people’s legs for some reason.”

The pink-haired Trainer laughed. “Really, it used to hug people’s legs? Does it have a penchant for smelling feet?”

“We could only speculate.”

“The sourpuss returns,” Duo said suddenly.

Remilia and the other two pilots looked back to Quatre and Wufei approaching them. Even with one uncovered eye, Quatre looked a little uneasy while Wufei has his usual scowl, but it looks a little more relaxed than usual.

Duo approached them and quietly asked the Sandrock pilot, “You explained everything to Wufei yet?”

“Yes,” replied Quatre. “He seemed to get the gist of everything going on here, especially regarding your, um, condition.”

“And are you certain, Duo, Quatre, that this is not a crazy dream I’m having?” Wufei asked them.

The braided boy looked at him with an amused smirk on his face. “If you think that’s the case, we would have been in the same situation as you. And Remi here would have been our little dream fairy.”

“‘Remi?’”

“He means Remilia, Wufei,” Quatre clarified.

The Altron pilot turned around to look at Trowa, Heero, and the pink-haired girl with the red floating iPad-like device.

Exhaling sharply, Wufei took another two steps towards them, though he was only focused on the girl they call Remilia. Whether it’s due to pride or being  _ somewhat _ ungrateful that he nearly got charred alive from the sudden blast of energy, he wasn’t getting a very good impression of her; maybe it’s because she nearly killed him with the move Moonblast (and he was certain he would have been burned alive from that) while he was fighting this Bewear creature, or it might be the way she dresses. From his perspective, she looks  _ far _ too young to be wearing a belly top that reveals a bit of her cleavage and shorts that reveal one-eighths of her buttcheeks, especially with the white socks that extend over her knees hugging against her lower thighs. And with a baseball cap with a gently curved visor to top it off, she looks like she just came out of a pre-colony rap music video. She is, in a word, indecent.

“So, I believe a thank you is in order for me saving your butt from that Bewear?” Remilia became the first to ask, crossing her arms.

“Yes, I believe so,” replied Wufei, choosing to put aside his disapproving thoughts about her, as well as swallowing a little bit of his pride. “I really appreciate you saving me from that Bewear. But I almost died back there.”

“I said I was sorry!” Remilia then planted her hands on her hips, knitting her pink brows together. “You should just thank your lucky stars that it didn’t even happen! So everything should be fine now!”

Wufei opened and closed his fists twice and sighed. “You’re right. I was thankful it didn’t happen. I should also be thankful for getting me out of the situation, so we should put it under the bridge.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of that Bewear,” Quatre spoke up. “What happened to it? It didn’t… you don’t think…?”

“Nah, I think that Moonblast scared it off,” Remilia assured. “Fighting’s weak to Fairy, after all.”

“Soooo,” Duo also spoke up. “Moonblast is a Fairy-type move?”

Wufei looked at Trowa and Heero asking if there is more to what Quatre is not telling him. Heero silently answered saying that he’ll cover all that later when there’s privacy.

(Un)fortunately, Rotom beat him to it. “Yezzzz it iz, buckaroo! I’ve got alllll the extensive knowledge of all Pokèmon types, among others of courzzze.”

“What is this creature?!” Wufei barked.

_ Oh, Lord,  _ Quatre mentally facepalmed.  _ I told him to stay calm throughout all of this until we get back home… _

“It’s a Rotom Dex,” explained Remilia. “It’s been my travelling companion throughout my Island challenge a few weeks back. As you can see, though, he can be somewhat annoying sometimes.”

“Surprised you didn’t abandon him.”

“Why would I do that?! Rotom’s been vital for my Island Challenge and the only on-the-go source for my Pokèmon knowledge!”

“Yeah! Zzzt!” Rotom added. “If it wazn’t for me, Remilia wouldn’t even be where she wazzzz right now!”

Wufei crossed his arms. “And what would that be, exactly?”

Before Remilia could say anything, Rotom continued, “Remilia here’z the very first Champion of Alola! Zzzt! She couldn’t have done it without my help, zzt! Pluzz her Pokèmon…”

With the exception of Heero (and possibly Wufei), all of the Gundam pilots became stunned by Rotom’s words. They knew that Remilia is a great Trainer from their perspective, but Rotom stating that she is Alola’s first Champion is a whole lot for them to take in.

Remilia tensed her shoulders and looked down as she blushed slightly. She also made a mental note to shut down her Rotom Dex for a week to punish it for letting it slip (although a part of her doesn’t know what good that will do, as Rotom can control machines of all types). She just became Champion a few weeks ago; she’s still adjusting to it as best as possible while still keeping her newfound celebrity status a secret from the world save her mother and close friends and girlfriend. The absolute  _ last _ thing she wants is unwanted attention, especially having her pictures (selfies in particular) taken by and from complete strangers. And besides, she still has her yaoi fanfiction to write from her favorite real robot and shounen shows.

Duo became the first to break the short period of awkward and uneasy silence. “ _ You’re  _ Alola’s first-ever Champion?!”

“I believe that’s a great achievement for a great Trainer like yourself,” Quatre added.

“So do I,” said Trowa as well, each corner of his lips curling slightly into a small smile. “You truly are a great Trainer in your own right; greater than we ever expected.”

“W-well, that’s because you guys aren’t Trainers yourselves!” Remilia shot her head up, still flustered by Rotom’s sudden revelation of her Champion status. “You wouldn’t know!”

“Okay, granted, we’re not Pokèmon Trainers,” said Duo. “But do we really need to be Trainers like yourself to know that’s one hell of an accomplishment to make? As far we know, not everybody who participates in the Island Challenge becomes Champion, you’re just one of those few people to accomplish something almost nobody else could!”

Remilia started to fiddle the hem of her Luvdisc tank top--revealing the whole of her bellybutton awhile--as she looked away from the Deathscythe Hell pilot. “I’m-I’m still mad at Rotom for revealing it to you guys.” She directed her blue eyes at them without turning her head. “B… Besides, I’m still adjusting to my Champion status, so being a Champion means I’m more or less a celebrity in the Alola region…”

“Aww, come on, Remilia! Zt!” Rotom electronically buzzed near her ear. “The boyzzz here had a right to know!”

The pink-haired girl turned her head sharply to her Pokèdex companion. “Well,  _ my _ being Champion is a need-to-know basis, did it ever occur to you about that?!”

“They’re your new friends, so of courze they need to know!”

“Go easy on Rotom, Remilia,” said Quatre.

“Uh?” Remilia looked at the blonde bandaged boy.

“Yeah, we were gonna know of your Champion status sooner or later,” Duo reassured. 

_ It really does explain a whole lot about her educating us about the Island Challenge,  _ Heero thought.  _ Especially the fact that she hid her status from us when she talked about it; when we asked if she did complete it, she just dodged the question. _

“Okay, if what I am gathering is true,” said Wufei almost menacingly, which sent a slight shiver down Remilia’s back. “Since this Rotom of yours said that you’re quote ‘Alola’s first-ever Champion’ end-quote, you’ve got to be the strongest Pokèmon Trainer on this region, is that right?”

“Well, gee, you’re able to figure that out after it’s just been conversed about,” said Remilia sarcastically. “You want a cookie or something?”

“Yes or no?!” Wufeit borderline-yelled. “Are you as strong as everyone around here thinks you are? And not just what Quatre and the rest of us here?”

“‘The rest of us?’” said Duo with an expression that pronounces his sarcasm.

Remilia ignored him. “Yes! I am! If the information from Rotom, Trowa and Duo wasn’t an obvious giveaway!”

“Remilia,” Quatre interrupted in a chiding but gentle tone. “Please don’t give Wufei a hard time. Like Duo said, we’re not Pokèmon Trainers like you.” He then turned to the Altron pilot. “And Wufei, please don’t do something that you’ll regret at a later time, okay?”

“The only thing I’ll ‘regret at a later time’ is not being able to test Remilia’s strength as a Trainer and is what she boasts,” Wufei rebutted.

“ _ That’s _ what you’re going to do?!” said Remilia, in near-complete shock after putting what little pieces she had together. “Why do I need to prove my strength as a Trainer and Champion to you when you have absolutely no Pokèmon on you and virtually zero experience as a Trainer like the rest of the guys?! Can you get any stupider than you are right now?!”

“If I’m capable of defending myself against a large strong creature such as a Bewear or any other, I can fight head-on with your Pokèmon!” 

Wufei assumed his usual martial arts stance. It took every last fiber of Remilia’s being to suppress her laughter at the sheer ridiculousness this whole situation is getting.  _ Okay, I’m seriously starting to think that he either sprained his brain during his “sparring match” with the Bewear I scared off, or the Bewear inflicted the brain sprain upon him. Either way, that guy’s looking more and more retarded the longer I look at him, and the longer I look at him, the longer this keeps up, and the longer this keeps up, the more frickin’ retarded the situation will be. _

Remilia pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “You know… there’s this one thing that a lot of people do when they’re faced with a situation like this, and it’s called  _ not  _ making a complete fucking idiot of themselves, which is what you are doing right now, and quite honestly, you look more and more like an idiot the longer you keep this up.”

“So you’re refusing my challenge, then,” Wufei returned to standing normally. “You must be quite weak compared to what they say.”

“Weak?!” Remilia almost shrieked. “At least I don’t put out for being a fucking idiot for getting into battles in which there is a less than zero percent chance of winning, like the situation you’ve put yourself in!”

“Oh, so you’re saying I’m the weak one, then?!” Wufei barked back. “After what I’ve been through?!”

“Yes! Because you’re acting fucking retarded right now and you’ll be even more retarded the longer this keeps up! So seriously, get off your damn high Rapidash and drop this right now! There’s no need for me to prove anything, especially where  _ you’re _ concerned!”

For a few seconds, Wufei did not say anything, and Remilia wondered if he is absorbing her words. Then, Wufei chuckled rather darkly, and Remilia suddenly found herself a fool for thinking that the slick-haired boy before her would take her words into account. 

“Retarded, you say?” said Wufei in a low tone, which made the pink-haired teen uneasy. “I beg to differ; I simply want to test out your own strength as fighters.”

“Except that I am not a fighter like you,” Remilia replied bluntly. “And I do not have any Fighting-type Pokèmon on me. And above all, you’re wasting your time, so stop this,  _ please. _ ”

“Well,  _ you’re _ wasting  _ my _ time right now by  _ not _ accepting my test of your strength.”

Remilia sighed loudly.  _ The more this guy keeps talking at me, the longer this will take… Besides, I’m already getting exhausted from today’s events and I’m sure Quatre and the others are feeling the same way too if we don’t get to Malie Seaside Hotel soon… What should I do…? _

She then looked at Wufei, who’s still wearing his signature scowl on his face. If there is anything Remilia would give him points for, it’s his persistence. If Wufei really is that persistent, well, two can play at that game, right? And besides, the sooner she and Wufei settle this, the sooner they can get to Malie and the Malie Seaside Hotel (and maybe get something to eat besides the Oreo cookies she has still stashed in her white ruffled shoulder bag) and retire for the day.

“All right then,” she responded at last. “I accept your challenge. It’s you versus my entire Pokèmon team of eight. If you manage to blow through all of them, you win. If you manage to be felled by one of my Pokèmon, I win.”  _ And through your loss, you will have proven my point about you. _

“Wait, one versus eight?” asked Duo.

“I accept your challenge,” Wufei declared.

_ Oh, boy… _ Duo thought dreadingly.

“Wufei,” Quatre spoke to him with concern with a touch of warning. “Are you sure you want to go through this? You know that Remilia’s quite strong, and--”

“I am more sure than you might think, Quatre,” the Altron pilot interrupted. “To not accept Remilia’s challenge would be a great injustice to me.”

_ Oh, dear… _ Quatre thought after deciding to not interfere anymore.  _ I don’t think this will end quite well… _

Remilia opened her Gorebyss fanny pack and brought out her Pokè Ball of her Ledian, Kai, as indicated by the Eevee sticker on his ball. She pressed the gray center button to enlarge it and threw it in the air to release it. “Kai! You’re in the fray!”

The white silhouette of Kai came to form and disappeared as he said his cry. Wufei became a little disturbed upon witnessing this, but he ignored it. Actually, he replaced him being disturbed with a sense of being mocked.

“If you seriously think that ladybug Pokèmon of yours would intimidate me, you’ve got another thing coming!” Wufei shouted while pointing at both of Remilia and Kai.

“It’s got coverage moves, smartass!” Remilia shouted back. “So let’s go!”

“I like nothing better!”  _ Whatever she means by coverage moves. _

♫♪*~The Bloody Game Begins - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♪

Wufei became the first to charge towards Kai, fists in the ready.

Remilia was able to quickly calculate his speed and shouted at Kai to use Reflect. The Five Star Pokèmon created a translucent rainbow hemisphere from the faint glowing of his antennae that’s twice of Kai’s width and height (discounting his long antennae).

When Wufei delivered his first punch, his fist is only met with what feels like soft yet unbreakable glass covered by canvas fabric. 

Overcoming his brief moment of shock, Wufei yelled, “That’s cheating!”

Remilia decided to save her breath from him and commanded Kai to use Brick Break. Wufei was able to shield himself from it and swiftly moved back. 

“I don’t know what kind of move that was,” Wufei started shouting. “But that was not fair at all!”

“You’re fighting against a Pokèmon!” Remilia shouted back. “So I’m going by the rules of Pokèmon battles and you should too!”

Wufei let out a battle cry and charged at Kai again. As with previously, Wufei tries to deliver a blow to Kai, with Kai using Reflect as commanded. Remilia then commanded Kai to use Sky Uppercut, but the Altron pilot was able to block it. Now realizing that this battle won’t be getting anywhere with this pattern, Remilia then commands Kai to ram against Wufei with his Reflect. Wufei tried to block it, but was pushed back and fell on his back.

“Now!” Remilia shouted. “Brick Break!”

Kai lunged towards the oriental boy, his right hands spread but flat. Wufei was able to see this and rolled out of the way just in time before Kai’s hands made contact with the ground, creating a small dirt cloud.

Taking advantage of this, Wufei delivered a swift lunge kick at Kai, finally able to make physical contact with it and Kai hit the ground once, but was able to get himself back up and stand on his legs.

“Okay, I’ll admit you’re pretty good,” said Wufei as he dusts himself. “But this is still just the beginning!”

“I could say the same thing to you!” replied Remilia. “I didn’t really see that kick coming, but my Ledian’s still standing! Kai, Swift!”

Kai immediately fluttered his wings and flipped forwards once as his black spots glowed white. Then he suddenly let out a barrage of golden star-shaped rays of widely varying sizes towards the Altron pilot.

Wufei shielded himself with his arms in an effort to protect himself from the barrage of falling stars; the star rays made a bigger and thicker cloud of dirt dust, causing him to cough a few times.

“Brick Break!” Remilia shouted.

Kai raised his right hands again and dove towards Wufei, ready to physically strike him again.

Unfortunately, for him, Wufei was able to see his attack and block the male Ledian’s right hands with his own hands. Kai backed up a little, but Wufei was able to punch him in his left cheek.

Worried about the situation turning on her, Remilia shouted at Kai to use Reflect, but it was too late; Kai had been knocked back by the physical impact of the punch and while he had recovered, there wasn’t enough time for him to carry out his master’s command, and thus he was knocked down by Wufei’s swift kick, rolling a few times in the dirt before stopping still.

Fighting against the shock of her fallen Pokèmon, Remilia yelled at Kai, “Kai, can you get up?! Can you move?”

♫♪~*No BGM*~♫♪

Kai had tried to, but ultimately slipped into unconsciousness. No longer able to fight against her shock, Remilia stared at him, her mind still registering what had just happened. She was held frozen by the sensation of defeat, her expression dismal.

“Hmph,” said Wufei as he looked at the scene before him that he deemed as rather pathetic. “Unbelievable. In fact, I’m rather surprised that you, the Champion of Alola, would start off with a weak Pokèmon such as this.”

Remilia didn’t say anything, nor did she even move.

“I believe there’s seven of your team left, correct?” Wufei continued to say. “You’d better not be holding back on me!”

Remilia got out her Pokè Ball with the Eevee tail sticker to summon Kai back into it. After she puts it back into her fanny pack, she steadily turned around to face Wufei, her bright blue eyes becoming cold with a hint of hurt. Without even taking her eyes off of him, she felt around her fanny pack for another one of her Pokè Balls. She got one out with an eye symbol sticker on it. She expanded it and threw it rather half-heartedly to release her Butterfree Nori.

Behind her, the other Gundam pilots noticed her unusually stiff movements, and Duo had taken a particular interest in Remilia’s choice of Pokèmon. He remembers that Nori has psychokinetic powers, just powerful enough to be able to psychically lift him up to save him from being eaten by that shiny Pallosand as well as physically. A faint sense of dread washed over him like lukewarm water. If Nori is as powerful as she is, despite being a small Bug-type Pokèmon, then odds are leaning a little bit towards the fact that Wufei is going to have a hard time.

Meanwhile, Wufei stared at the purple butterfly-like Pokèmon in disbelief. “Are you seriously kidding me right now! Do you really truly take me for a fool with this stupid thing?! I honestly don’t think you’re even trying at all!”

Nori let out a hurt ping as she heard those words, curling up slightly.

“Ignore him, Nori,” said Remilia emotionlessly, all the while staring at Wufei with her cold eyes. “Psychic.”

Regaining her confidence, Nori’s red eyes glowed a bright blue.

♫♪~*Complicated Fuselage - Mobile Fighter G Gundam*~♫♪

“Feh, I really don’t know what you’re playing at,” said Wufei, oblivious of the bright blue aura surrounding him. “The Pokèmon you were previously using obviously wasn’t as strong as they say-- AAHHHH!!”

Wufei suddenly found himself being thrown up into the air as if he was being pulled around by an invisible wire, and thrown down again on his back. Before he could start wondering what had just happened, he was thrown up into the air again and slammed against the ground. This action repeated itself two more times until he was hurled against a rock, then a bamboo grove (snapping off several of the bamboo in the process) and then another rock covered by moss and dirt. Finally, he was slammed against a tall dirt ledge, leaving a cracked crater as big as his person as he stayed there, groaning in pain and trying to move, but was restricted by the telekinetic force. The only thing the Altron pilot could do was open his dark brown eyes and glare daggers at the purple Pokèmon and Remilia standing a few paces away from it, oblivious to the shock and cringe of the one-sided beatdown that had happened just now evident on their faces. That pair of creepy glowing blue eyes doesn’t even scare Wufei one bit. In fact, he’s becoming more driven to tear that butterfly Pokèmon to shreds for humiliating him like this.

♫♪~*No BGM*~♫♪

Wufei sees Quatre jog up to Remilia and saying something to her, likely that he’s telling her to stop. For once, Remilia looked at him by turning her head to him, and her expression changed, but she didn’t seem to say anything (either that, or Wufei was too far away to read her lip movements--could be both).

Remilia then commanded Nori to stop using Psychic, and the Butterfly Pokèmon complied, her glowing blue eyes being restored to her normal red, the blue aura surrounding Wufei disappeared, causing him to land on his side, grunting loudly as he hit the ground. 

Quatre ran up to him and tried to help Wufei sit up, but the latter weakly swatted his hand away in defiance, and was able to get himself up--albeit slowly--while clutching his shoulder and massaging it.

Remilia approached Wufei, with Nori following suit, no longer having the cold look on her face and stopped a couple feet away from him, staring at him with her seemingly innocent but pretty disapproving face, as if waiting for him to say something.

Wufei simply glared even more daggers at her.

Remilia doesn’t seem to be phased by this, but placed her hand on her hip. “Why you gotta be so stupid, stupid?”

Wufei didn’t say anything, which surprised Quatre a little.  _ I’ve just decided: I hate that little bitch and her stupid butterfly. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if you people think that I'm not portraying Wufei as correctly as you would like but in retrospect... he was a bit of an ass.


	11. Ambitions (part 2)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Malie City, Ula’ula Island*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Malie City - Pokèmon Sun and Moon~*♫♩

The five Gundam pilots and their Trainer friend arrived in Malie up to three hours later. The former group looked in awe of the city; it looked even bigger and livelier than Heahea back on Akala. Meanwhile, Remilia looked on in slight disdain. Cars are nearly smushed together and there are quite a lot of people and Pokèmon--big and small, flying, floating or walking--on the sidewalks and crosswalks. She knew that Malie would be entering rush hour by the time she and her new guy friends (well, except for Wufei; her interaction with him started off as sour to say the least) arrived there, but it was also the time of the week when rush hour is slightly worse than the rest.

“Here we are,” Remilia said loudly so that the pilots could hear her. “Malie Seaside Hotel is a bit farther yet.”

“How much farther, exactly?” asked Wufei in a bitter tone, still wincing from pain from time to time from being psychically curb-stomped by Nori.

“Around…” Remilia looked at the map screen on her Rotom Dex. “Five-point-three miles yet, as long as we continue going northwest.”

“Five-point-three?” asked Duo. “That’s still so far away!”

“Don’t be such a child, Duo,” said Heero.

“Easy for you to say!” Duo fired back. “I haven’t even eaten anything since I left the hospital back on Akala!”

“I’m on the same boat as Duo,” Quatre pitched in. “I think we should get something to eat first before we continue on to the hotel.”

“I’m with you guys both,” Remilia agreed. “All I’ve eaten today was a couple of Oran Berries for breakfast and Oreos a few hours after.”

“Are there any nearest restaurants around here?” asked Duo with hopeful eyes.

“There should be a malasada shop right…” The pink-haired Trainer looked around for a bit before pointing to a brightly-colored building which appeared to be a little less than a few miles from where she and the rest of the group are standing. “Here. It’s several blocks away from the entrance to Malie Garden.”

Trowa took a few paces ahead of the group and frowned slightly. “Right where you’re pointing?”

“Yeah. I sometimes go there after a few hours of training my Pokèmon. Let’s go.”

Once again, the Gundam pilots follow Remilia’s lead and into the malasada shop, identified by the large sign with a picture of a pink cotton candy-toy poodle hybrid (which Remilia clarified that it’s a Slurpuff, a Pokèmon from the Kalos region). As soon as she opened the door and ventured in, the boys took their time to look at everything around them. Everything around here is so bright and colorful--most notably the patterns of the pastel oranges complementing the pinks and yellows along with the bright beige wallpapers. It reminded them of some of the pastry and bakery shops back in their home dimension.

♫♩*~Daily Conversation - Super Robot Wars V~*♫♩

The aroma of malasadas soon filled Remilia and the pilots’ nostrils, which respectively make her and Duo’s stomach growl in anticipation.

“You folks certainly are a hungry bunch!” the young woman wearing a red apron behind the counter said. 

“Yeah, we’ve been travelling a whole lot around the islands,” Remilia replied sheepishly.

She then placed six orders consisting of a Nanab Berry malasada and cream-filled malasada plus a Mago Berry soda for herself, three custard malasadas for Trowa, Quatre and Duo, a chocolate malasada for Heero and a Berry Juice for Wufei (since he wasn’t interested in the concoctions he considered “overly sweet”).

After splitting the orders among herself and Quatre (who paid for the rest of their orders as he still has the money Remilia loaned him leftover), Remilia led them to her usual table, whose window has the Slurpuff graphic plastered on the interior side of the window, and they all scooched in on the coral pink leather seats; Heero, Trowa and Duo sat on one side while Wufei, Remilia and Quatre sat on the other, in that order.

Wufei gave the pink-haired Trainer a bitter look as her shoulder was just barely touching his upper arm. “Remind me why I get to sit next to the window and not in the middle?”

Remilia gave him a snarky look. “Um, you weren’t my first choice, either, Wufei. And besides, the A/C is blasting at sixty-nine, seventy degrees in this place, so it gets a little chilly because of me getting cold almost too easily, so my getting sandwiched between two people is the only way I wouldn’t feel as cold. So you’re giving me your body heat whether you like it or not.”

Wufei let out an annoyed huff and proceeded to drink his juice.

“Seventy degrees isn’t all that cold, Remilia,” said Heero nonchalantly as he took a careful bite out of his chocolate malasada (which he thought was actually pretty good).

“Quoth the guy who can wear his tank top and bicycle shorts in near-freezing weather and still not get hypothermia,” said Duo sarcastically with his mouth full of his custard malasada with a few crumbs and small droplets of the custard filling flying out of his mouth.

“Duo, don’t talk and chew at the same time,” said Trowa, cringing slightly at the sight. “You’re getting crumbs and custard on my turtleneck.”

“How do you wear that long-sleeve turtleneck and not bake under the summer sun?” asked Remilia before taking a bit out of her cream malasada.

Trowa took a bite out of his, chewed slowly, making note of how great it tasted, and then swallowed. “Maybe I’m sensitive to the cold.”

“While  _ he  _ gets a sunburn rather easily,” said Duo, mercifully with no food in his mouth this time.

It took Remilia a second to realize he was referring to Heero. She directed her eyes to him, who was modestly eating his malasada as if he’s no longer part of the conversation the others are currently having.

“Is this true?” she asked as she took a sip of her Mago Berry soda.

“I do not burn easily,” Heero replied in his usual monotone without looking at her. “I just do not get cold easily compared to the rest.”

Remilia didn’t know why, but for some reason she became a little offended by his remark.

Duo had finished up his malasada in a matter of seconds, not bothering to lick his crystal fingers. He then eyed Trowa’s malasada and asked. “You gonna eat the rest of that, Tro?”

The Heavyarms pilot handed him his barely eaten malasada. “Go knock yourself out. The custard and sugary bread isn’t going all that great for my tastebuds.”

The Deathscythe pilot eagerly grabbed the malasada. “Your loss, dude, because these malasadas are fan-freaking-tastic!”

“Here, Duo,” said Quatre as he handed his to him as well. “You can have mine, too. It tastes a little dry to me.”

Duo took the other malasada and proceeded to chow down on Quatre’s half-eaten malasada.

Wufei looked at him in slight disgusted. _Ugh, I_ loathe _having to think_ _that he’s on the same team as us,_ he thought.

“Malasadas are the best,” Remilia pitched in eating her cream malasada and drinking her soda, but thankfully chewing and swallowing before speaking further: “Especially with the Berry-filled and cream ones! Hau likes the custard ones the best!”

“Who’s Hau?” asked Wufei.

“Remilia’s male friend whom she met since starting her Island Challenge with him,” Trowa replied.

Wufei opted to not say anything and only proceeded to drink more of his Berry Juice, as the talk of malasadas is starting to make him feel a little nauseated, especially the custard and cream ones.

Soon, Duo finished both custard malasadas and let out a satisfied belch, much to Trowa and Heero’s disgust. “Ohhhhhh man, that hit the spot!”

“In your heart, that is,” Heero muttered, making sure that he’s quiet enough to not be heard by his fellow pilot.

“Duo, please say ‘excuse me’ and cover your mouth when you do that!” Quatre chastised. “We have a young lady in our group!”

The moment Quatre said those words, Remilia let out an equally loud burp, surprising Duo, Quatre, and even Heero while Trowa looked somewhere between the former emotion and disgusted. Wufei, who noticed a bundle of napkins and reached out to see if they’re cloth or paper, and hence was unfortunate enough to be caught in Remilia’s shooting range, started gagging from the smell and steadily moved away from her and started coughing and gagging with a visible grimace of disgust on his face, waving his arm and hand in a feeble attempt to clear the air. Remilia immediately covered her mouth with both hands, her face flushing a bright red crimson, very clearly embarrassed at what had just happened. Quatre also blushed beside her, not knowing what to think or say.

Suddenly, Duo burst out laughing, more at the three’s faces rather than the burp itself and placed his head on the table, smashing his fist on it repeatedly.

Remilia looked at Wufei, who has finished gagging and breathing heavily, while the words “Oh, shit!” were the only thing running around her mind, until she was able to force out, “Wufei, I’m so, so sorry!”

Wufei turned to her with a visibly angry look on his face. “‘Sorry?’ You are sorry?! You just fucking burped in my face!”

“Well, I didn’t know you were in my range!” Remilia defended herself.

“Well, I was reaching for something!” Wufei fired back.

“Wufei, it was an accident,” said Quatre calmly, trying to lighten the situation that was just made. “Remilia didn’t know you were reaching for something, and you couldn’t predict that she was going to burp at that moment.”

“She could have at least seen my face!”

“Which I did anyway, regardless if you can predict it or not!” said Remilia. “What did you expect me to do instead, burp in Quatre’s face?!”

“I would really rather if you would not do that, thanks,” said Quatre. “The point is, it was wholly unintentional on Remilia’s part, and neither her nor you could have guessed that she was going to burp in your face, Wufei.”

Wufei simply glared at him, but Quatre was undeterred. “Remilia said she was sorry, did she not? So please apologize as well for your shouting and ask her for forgiveness.”

Wufei resisted the urge to growl at him and looked at the girl smooshed next to him. Quatre was right, she does look truly remorseful for what had happened just now.

He then sighed and said. “I’m sorry for shouting at you. It was uncalled for.”

“I’m sorry, too, Wufei,” said Remilia. “I didn’t mean to belch into your face when you were reaching for the cloth napkins on the table.”

_ So that’s what these napkins are, _ Wufei thought. “Apology accepted.”

Remilia looked away from him and finished what was left of her cream malasada and proceeded to eat her Nanab Berry one.

Quatre looked at Trowa, who held a grateful smile at him. The Sandrock pilot smiled back, albeit a little sheepishly. He suddenly noticed that Duo still has his head face-down on the table, twitching slightly every several or so seconds as he was still recovering from laughing his butt off. He looked at Trowa again with a concerned look on his face, as if to wonder if Duo is alright from laughing so hard and not suffering from any type of pain from the black crystals growing on his face, hands and arms (and possibly his back, if the small pointed lumps underneath his priest’s clothes are of any indication to him).

Trowa understood his friend’s expression and poked Duo in the arm, which caused him to giggle a little in response. After waiting a few seconds to give him time to calm down a little, he placed his hand a little far from the base of his braid, a gesture which he gasped sharply and audibly.

Duo slowly got himself up, face red with tears streaming down his face, gasping for air and giggling ocassionally. Trowa retrieve a cloth napkin from the center of the table and hands it to him, and Duo takes it to wipe away the tears from his laughing episode, breathing heavily.

“Are you all right?” the green-eyed pilot asked, concern evident in his visible eye.

“Yeah… yeah,” Duo managed to croak out. “I-I think I’m good.” He lets out a sniffle. “I-I’m going to the bathroom, I’m started to get a headache.”

The braided pilot quickly got up made a dash to the men’s restroom as the other pilots and Remilia watched. 

“Sooo…” Remilia started to say in an effort to ease the heavy tension of awkwardness and embarrassment. “At least Duo finds it funny?”

“Well,  _ I  _ don’t,” Wufei huffed. “It’s really embarrassing.”

Remilia sighed. “For once, I agree with you.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know what to make of that, either,” Quatre agreed as well. “Although looking back, it is rather funny.”

“Ugh…” Wufei sipped the last of his Berry Juice and crumpled up the drink cup.

“And this one here, doesn’t even have much of an opinion, either,” said Remilia, looking at Heero, who had just finished eating his chocolate malasada despite what had just happened (or rather,  _ acted _ like nothing had happened just now).

The Wing Zero pilot looked at the pink-haired Pokèmon Trainer with his cobalt blue eyes, as if asking her if she expected him to say something.

Remilia frowned slightly in response.  _ If they give away medals for top-rated edgelord, Heero would be wearing some whilst Gladion would be the nominee. _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In the Men’s Bathroom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~Cradle - Elfen Lied~*♫♩

Duo splashed some cold water onto himself in an attempt to ease his headache a little (which had somewhat worsened from his laughing so hard). He breathed heavily from the pain and gently rubbed his eyes with his hands, which is now covered in black crystals forming into claws. His chest tightened at how much the black crystal growth has spread. What is happening to him? Would he become a crystal statue? Or would he turn into a crystal demon?

Slowly, Duo looked into the mirror and almost jumped. Black crystals are growing a little bigger by the minute, especially his jawline. He leaned over the sink to the mirror as best as he possibly could and let out a shaky gasp. His indigo eyes are nearly eclipsed by a dark rainbow as if his eyes were a wet black asphalt and the rainbow colors a puddle of oil mixed with rainwater. It looked like it was glowing slightly despite the near blackness of the rainbow.

Duo let out heavy but barely audible breaths.  _ What is happening to me?  _ He places his clawed hand on his cheek, their sharpness almost ready to pierce his skin if he’s not careful.  _ The black crystals growing all over my body… the feral voices clawing against my skull… Am I… turning into a monster? _

His headache gradually intensifying, he decided that one thing should be done. If only it hadn’t come down to this… Sighing, the Deathscythe pilot peeked out of the bathroom to see if anybody from Remilia’s table can see him. Concluding that they can’t, Duo got down to his elbows and knees (noticing that his feet, legs and shins are starting to grow numb and his boots becoming a little tighter) and quickly snuck out and tried to make past his friends’ table and out the building.

Once he went past their table--taking great care to make it quick while also not making a noise--he swiftly got up and made a beeline to the door, only to unfortunately bump into somebody who had just entered.

“Oof!” said the stranger.

“Watch it, buster!” Duo blurted out.

♫♩*~The Temple Band - Final Fantasy X HD~*♫♩

Remilia and the boys’ eyes diverted themselves to Duo and the stranger, surprised that Duo was able to silently get past them. Granted, they know that the braided Gundam pilot is a class of his own when it comes to stealth and infiltration, thanks to his early years of being a street urchin, but he didn’t even seem to make a single tiniest clink of gem to any hard surface; that was the most surprising part. Remilia, on the other hand, was entirely focused on the stranger. Familiarity of him cloaked her like a glossy finish of a car; blue hair, blue eyes, black clothing, she’s seen this type before.

The black-clothed stranger eyed Remilia and shoved Duo out of the way, ignoring the latter’s protests. He approached her and said, “Hey, you. You’re Remilia, right? All that pink you’ve got on you is a dead giveaway.”

_ Yeah, like someone else that’s not Quatre, _ Duo thought with a smirk.

The pink-haired girl knitted her same-colored brows at him in suspicion. “Yes, that’s me. Dare I guess who sent you to fetch me for something?”

“Oh, you dare to, girl,” the blue-eyed, blue-haired male stranger replied in a tough-guy tone. “You beat him down three times a few weeks ago, and now he’s ready to challenge you again!”

“Um, I’m sorry to interrupt, but who is ‘he?’” Quatre asked, concerned.

“The boss!” replied the stranger. “The boss is challenging the Champ once again!”

“‘The… boss?’” Now it’s Trowa’s turn to ask.

_ I have a really, really bad feeling about this… _ Quatre thought, his concern for Remilia growing bigger by the second.

_ “The boss…” _ thought Remilia.  _ So he’s talking about “him…”  _ “Okay, so what does he want this time, a challenge?”

“That’s what he said,” the stranger answered. “And he wants you meet him in Malie Garden--”

“--near where the ferry terminal is, I know where it’s right next to,” Remilia interrupted monotonously. “Tell him that I accept his ‘challenge,’ but that’ll be the last time he issues one, and unless he becomes more friendly towards me, I’m not up for any of his sparring matches, like, ever.”

The black-clad stranger smirked. “Awright! I’ll tell him your answer straightaway!”

And with that, the stranger exited out of the restaurant door, leaving the Gundam pilots with confused and concerned looks on their faces.

“Would anyone mind telling me what was that all about?” Trowa became the first to inquire.

Heero, likewise, became the first to respond, in a matter-of-factly tone, “Basically, an individual with blue hair, blue eyes and wearing a black low-key punk outfit went into this restaurant’s premises with the message to Remilia stating that ‘the boss,’ whoever it might be, is issuing a challenge--presumably a Pokèmon battle--at Malie Garden.”

Duo planted his clawed hands to his hips. “Thanks for the inside perspective, ‘Ro, not like we ever needed it in the first place.”

“This is getting us nowhere, you guys,” their blonde friend spoke up. “What matters right now is the fact that we don’t know who this ‘the boss’ individual is.”

“Remilia seems to know him or her based on her body language and tone,” Wufei added.

_ Oh, so suddenly he cares,  _ Remilia thought sarcastically.  _ Whatever, I can deal with that.  _ “Wufei’s actually right (for once) on that one. I actually do know him, though as you’ve just heard, we’re not exactly ‘friends’ or ‘sparring partners.’”

“And that dude said you ‘beat him down’ a few times?” Duo asked. 

“Yeah. It was  _ really _ hard, though.”

“The important thing is, you came out on top,” Trowa said to her in an effort to alleviate nearly everyone’s concerns, including his. “And if you came out on top three times, you’ll certainly do it again on the fourth time.”

Remilia didn’t say anything, except that she finished her Nanab Berry malasada and crumpled up the wrapper, placed on the interior of per previous wrapper and wrapped it around the crumbled wrapper and took another sip of her Mago Berry soda. Quatre kindly got out of his seat to led Remilia out so that she could place the wrapper ball into the trash bin.

“You’re not gonna say anything?” asked Duo as he watched her movements. “No ‘Hey, thanks for the confidence boost, Tro, I’ll definitely beat that son of a bitch down the fourth time?’”

“Duo!” Quatre chided him.

Remilia took another sip from her soda. “It’s called being humble. That’s another reason why I don’t and never have announced my Champion status to the world like most celebrities announce their pregnancies on their social media accounts.”

She then walked past her guy friends and out the door to the direction of Malie Garden. Trowa became the first to follow her, then Quatre, then Duo, then Heero and lastly, Wufei.

Duo caught up to Trowa and asked him, “Are you sure this is a good idea, Tro?”

“We would be heading to Malie Garden sooner or later, anyway,” the Heavyarms pilot responded. “And besides, it still means we were going to spend the night at the Malie Seaside Hotel and it’s unlikely that Remilia has forgotten to lead us there.”

Duo sighed softly and looked down to the sidewalk pavement, contemplating what Trowa had said just now and back at the malasada restaurant. Remilia’s the Champion AKA the strongest Pokèmon Trainer in Alola, so she should be fine fighting this mysterious individual, thus there is no need to worry about her. What everybody else is thinking, well… Wufei seems to be a little curious, Quatre’s a bit more worried than he lets on and Heero… doesn’t seem to care a bit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Malie City, Malie Garden*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Pokèmon Sun and Moon - Guzma’s Theme~*♫♩

Remilia set foot onto the stone pathway while the five boys behind her stopped, their breaths held in their mouths in anticipation and worry for her well-being. They noticed that the garden was massive, going on for miles, plus a white stone wall to block out the rest of the ocean. Maybe as soon as Remilia finishes up her business with “the boss,” maybe they could explore the garden for a while before settling themselves in the Malie Seaside Hotel.

Remilia, meanwhile, stopped in her tracks to search for whoever she thinks “the boss” is. She stopped at the Pokèmon Center prior to coming here to heal up Kai from his being beat by Wufei (something she still has a bit of a grudge over), but considering how strong his team is, it’s probably best to not send him out to battle. She knows that he always sends out his ace Pokèmon first, so maybe she’ll have to send out her Salazzle Shayde, since she’s naturally faster than this one…

Finally her eyes settled on the young man in the distance, standing right in front of the gold arched bridge where she had first fought him and would have lost if Hau hadn’t arrived to her on time and had Brynja never evolved to Primarina. The memory of her losing to that massive Bug-type Pokèmon with her when she was just a Brionne tugged at her heart at the near-fatal mistake she made with sending her out first when she was not yet strong enough. But she was able to push it out of the way when she first defeated him on her own with no backup, and again when he defeated Gladion’s own team. He might be as strong as he claims, but as Alola’s first Champion, she is stronger; and she has to keep reminding herself of that when she battles him yet again for the fourth time. What had happened here last time will not happen again.

The pink-haired Trainer steadily approached the young man a few more paces before stopping, putting on her stony but determined face, pushing the memory of Brynja being swatted into the water away. Her bright blue eyes are intensely focused on the young man’s dark ones, whilst also taking a good look at his overall physical appearance. He’s in his usual Team Skull clothes minus his tattoos, and he’s in his usual hands-on-hips, elbows-facing-outward posture, but his smug--one that is usually sadistic--is absent; just like the last time she faced him on the Hau’oli City beach area. His scowl is there, but did he have the same grudge as last time? Or maybe he became able to learn some humility after spending time with Kahuna Hala after she defeated him?

Noticing that he’s not saying his usual catchphrase, Remilia took the liberty of speaking it firsthand: “The hated boss who beats you down, and beats you down and never lets up… The minute one of your former cronies came in that malasada restaurant, I suspected you had something to do with that and possibly wanted me for something, namely a Pokèmon match, Guzma.”

The young man now known as Guzma replied in his usual gruff thuggish tone, “Yeah, well, long story short, I tried to get my Masquerain to deliver that message to you a couple days ago, but it rained, so I had to get one of my grunts to look for you either on Melemele or here, since that’s where you go for training.”

“And it’s through pure luck that he was able to find me in a malasada restaurant.” Remilia paused. “But that’s not what we’re really talking about, is it?”

“Yeah. ‘Preciate that you came here to accept my match, though.”

“If I hadn’t, you would still be giving my ego a lot of bruises.”  _ Guzma called me, even if wasn’t all this way, to Malie Garden for a simple Pokèmon match… Well, he’s likely reforming and the Aether Foundation’s still recovering from the Ultra Beast incident caused by that bitch queen, so I see no reason why he would be having further ulterior motive or motives. _

Remilia could have sworn that she saw each corner of Guzma’s mouth twitch, whether it’s from what she had said or the sarcastic tone of her voice.  _ I guess he still hasn’t even recovered from me defeating him on my own for the first time… _

“Yeah, well, believe it or not, my ego’s got a few bruises of their own,” Guzma retorted. 

“But I’m more than certain they’ve been healing,” Remilia cut in, trying to make the assuring tone in her voice evident. “Especially after all that time you’ve been under Kahuna Hala’s wing.”

Guzma sighed; for the first time in her life, she was able to see his features soften. “Can’t deny that. No, the real reason why I’ve challenged you to a Pokèmon match is to see what that old man has been telling me is true. That the purpose of Pokèmon battling isn’t to beat someone down but to respect your opponent or some shit like that.”

“I’ve got my own reasons, too,” Remilia replied. “But it’s nice to know that my reason is in the same context as yours.”

Meanwhile, the boys are looking at Remilia and the young man in black conversing. The entire group--Heero especially--is tense seeing her run up to him. She seems like she and the young man share some history, and not a particularly good one at that, although the young blue-haired man said that she beat him down a few times. Yes, they (except for Wufei) know as well as a few people close to Remilia that she’s the strongest Pokèmon Trainer in the Alola region and she said so, but they really couldn’t help but worry.

Quatre became the first to voice their concerns. “This is really getting intense.”

“Yeah, looks like Remi and that guy has some serious beef with each other,” Duo agreed.

“I’m not hearing a screaming match anytime soon,” said Wufei.

“That’s what makes the air even more stagnant, Wufei,” said Quatre.

Without saying a reply to either one of them, Trowa jogged up ahead of them, ignoring his blonde friend’s protests to come back. Oddly, his mind tells him of the same thing, but his body says otherwise. Even odder, is that the Heavyarms pilot doesn’t even know  _ why _ he’s doing this; maybe, just like Quatre and the rest of the Gundam pilots, he’s worried that the situation’s going to escalate into something worse. Or it might be something a little deeper than this. One might hypothesize that Trowa’s “big brother” instincts are getting themselves into high gear. Maybe it’s just that.

Trowa was able to catch up to Remilia and placed a hand on her bare shoulder, surprising the latter (without even looking at Guzma’s annoyed and confused expression).

“Trowa?” she asked his name.

“Who the hell is this?” Guzma asked. “Your boyfriend?”

Remilia frowned at him. “ _ Guy  _ friend, Guzma, and besides that, I’m a lesbian.”

The former Team Skull leader let out a “Ffft” sound.

Paying no mind to him, Trowa said to Remilia, “Remilia, you can still back out. This guy is bad news.”

“Well, too bad for you, I accepted his Pokèmon match,” said Remilia stubbornly.

“Yeah, Mr. Emo-Hair gel!” Guzma raised his voice. “You ain’t got no business interferin’ with our match just before it starts!”

“Maybe she can prove to us once and for all that she isn’t weak like her ladybug Pokèmon is!” Wufei shouted at them.

Remilia turned her head sharply at the Altrom pilot. “How you mind your own dicky Combeeswax, Wufei?!”

Now seeing that her mind is made up, Trowa backed backed away from her a little, and looked at the white-haired young man and then Remilia, thinking of what else to do next. “In that case… perhaps I should be the referee for this Pokèmon battle?”

Guzma shrugged. “Eh, I guess.”

“That’s a good idea,” Remilia agreed.

Trowa nodded once and started walking towards a very large patch of grass before stopping a foot away from it.

Watching the slight turn of events unfold before them, Quatre asked, “Don’t you guys think we should do something?”

“Well, Trowa’s moved a couple feet between them,” said Duo, rubbing his head with his clawed middle fingers. “That’s as much as ‘somethin’’ he’s gonna do.”

“So we leave her be, then,” Heero spoke up after a long period of silence from him.

Both Duo and Quatre’s eyes widened in shock. “Seriously?!”

“If Trowa is standing over there, then Remilia’s made her decision on fighting this man. She can handle this.”

_ Let’s see if Remilia can prove herself in that she’s not weak like her ladybug Pokèmon,  _ Wufei thought.

“Let the Pokèmon battle begin,” Trowa announced. “Both of you have agreed that this match will be a three-on-three basis, correct?”

“Yes,” Remilia replied. “Guzma and I agreed to fight using three Pokèmon of our choice from each of our teams.”

♫♩*~Pokèmon Sun and Moon - Battle ~ Team Skull Leader Guzma~*♫♩

Guzma produced an Ultra Ball from his pocket. Remilia did the same from her fanny pack. Both threw their Ultra Balls up in the air at the same time.

Guzma: “Let’s rock, Golisopod!”

Remilia: “Shayde, let’s go!”

Both Ultra Balls released the hulking samurai-like insect of a Pokèmon known as Golisopod and Shayde, Remilia’s Salazzle at the same time, both letting our their respective cries. 

Duo, Quatre, and this time Wufei and even Heero’s eyes widened at the massive size of the Golisopod; this Pokèmon practically dwarves Remilia’s Salazzle by a long shot.

“It’s fucking huge!” Duo all but raised his voice.

“I honestly don’t know how Shadye, let alone Remilia, will face off against this giant,” Quatre said in a slightly small voice.

“All Salazzle have very high speed and power,” Heero expositioned, his expression returning to neutral. “Perhaps she might have something up her sleeve?”

“Or lack thereof,” Wufei muttered under his breath.

“We can only hope,” Duo said sarcastically before moving away from the rest of the group to find some shade under the nearest tree due to the hot weather (which is not helping his headache any; he might even started to hallucinate if this keeps up).

“Golisopod!” Guzma shouted at his giant Pokèmon. “First Impression!”

“Dodge, Shayde!” Remilia shouted as well.

In a matter of just a few seconds, Golisopod dashed right towards Shayde, claws at the ready, but thanks to Remilia’s shout, Shayde was able to evade the attack with great speed. Golisopod wound up grazing the stone pathway with his claws (which made Remilia hiss a little with worry).

“Nasty Plot!” Remilia yelled next.

Shayde, now on all fours, lifted her thick hot pink undersided tail in the air and curved it inward. The hot pink underside on her tail, hands and feet and her flame-like markings glowed, with her lavender eyes narrowing and her slit pupils dilating, growling softly, intensely focused.

Guzma then commanded his Golisopod to use Razor Shell. Complying, its dark gray claws glowed blue and became surrounded by water energy. It charges towards Shayde at a somewhat slower speed compared to its First Impression move, but its movements are still quick.

Unbeknownst to Guzma, Remilia predicted that attack (as Shayde is part Fire-type) and shouted at Shayde to use Toxic. Shayde immediately lets out a purple toxic gas from her gaping mouth at the Golisopod charging towards her.

Golisopod seems undeterred and continues to charge towards her. Fearing for the worst (and maybe to at least make Wufei eat his words about calling her “weak” for using a Pokèmon that’s at a disadvantage), Remilia shouted at Shayde to dodge again, although Golisopod was able to graze her arm with its Razor shell. 

Shayde stumbles a little, but was able to get herself back on her feet, even though she’s holding her hurt arm. Remilia prayed that it’s only a minor scratch and that she’s still able-bodied enough to continue this match, especially when the first round has just started.

“Oh, dear…” Quatre said fearfully and worriedly as he unconsciously grips on Heero’s dark green tank top.

_ That Salazzle is a lot faster than I had anticipated,  _ Heero thought, putting his analytical mind to work as he observed the battle from far away.  _ But this giant bug… Golisopod, I think it’s called; seems to possess a lot more physical strength than Salazzle. Salazzle’s Special Attack is quite high according to the Pokèdex; since that Salazzle’s one of Remilia’s stronger Pokèmon, then it would mean that her Special Attack is off the charts as well as her speed, even with her status as a glass cannon. That young man’s Golisopod is as strong as Salazzle, although I cannot predict that this round will end in a draw. Judging from Salazzle’s high speed and that Golisopod’s reliance on physical strength and defense, the odds will be… _

Guzma’s Golisopod charged at Shayde again with its Razor Shell. Remilia shouted at her to use Venoshock. She immediately complied by going on all fours again, opened her mouth and sprayed a thick purple stream of poisonous liquid at the large Bug Pokèmon charging at her.

The thick purple spray made contact with Golisopod, despite it being able to defend itself against it, causing it to make a guttural roar in reaction to the pain of being poisoned and being hit with the opposing Salazzle’s Venoshock, as it is more damaging than being hit with Venoshock alone. 

Golisopod winced in pain and backed away, then kneeled as it held its arm while chuffing. Shayde stood still, awaiting her Trainer’s orders awhile. Everyone in this garden held their breath, waiting to see what would happen next; whether either Guzma or Remilia will make the order to their Pokèmon, or Golisopod will fall and Shayde will emerge the victor in this round.

Golisopod stood up with great effort to ignore the ugly-looking wound appearing on its arm. It’s still in pain from the damage inflicted upon it, but it’s still able to fight.

“Use Waterfall, Golisopod!” Guzma shouted at his ace Pokèmon.

The Hard Scale Pokèmon’s eyes glowed an aqua blue and charged at Shayde, surrounding its entire self in water, its healthier arm pointing first. 

Remilia shouted at Shayde to dodge once again, but due to their equal speeds (due to the fact that Golisopod was able to charge at Shayde as fast as when it used First Impression), Golisopod’s Waterfall grazed Shayde as it did with Razor Shell, only this time, it did more damage than Razor Shell. 

Shayde screeched in pain before rolling a few times and stopping on her side, unmoving. Remilia cried out her nickname before dropping down to her knees. “Shayde, get up, please!”

Wincing in pain, the Toxic Lizard Pokèmon struggled to get up, and Remilia had to physically help her get back on her hind feet, the former breathing heavily and trying not to lose consciousness again.

Golisopod is feeling the same way, slowly becoming more weary from Toxic and the damage from Venoshock. Guzma commanded it to use Waterfall again, and it complied as last time. However, compared to last time, the Waterfall was slow to start, and Golisopod was a bit slower as well.

Seeing this as an opening, Remilia shouted at Shayde to use Flamethrower; with the last of her strength, she was able to blast a thick but brushy stream of fire at the water-surrounded Golisopod, gradually reducing the water to steam and slowing the move down to a stop, burning Golisopod’s head in the process.

Golisopod rolled headfirst once and skidded a short distance before stopping completely, falling unconscious. Shayde, meanwhile, got down on one knee while panting heavily with her hot pink tongue lolling on one side of her black toothy mouth. 

Guzma’s face contorted in shock while Trowa looked at Golisopod’s unconscious form. 

“The winner is Shayde,” said Trowa calmly.

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

“Yay!” Remilia cheer as she hugged her Pokèmon. “Shayde, you did great! I’m so proud of you!”

Weakly but happily, Shayde placed her hands onto her master’s lower arm and snuggled against her nose, purring happily. Remilia fetched Shayde’s Ultra Ball from her Gorebyss fanny pack and returned Shayde there.

Guzma, meanwhile, ran up to his unconscious Golisopod and returned it to its own Ultra Ball, the feelings of bitterness and resentment from his longtime partner losing resurfacing. However, he cleared his throat and turned to the pink-haired girl.

“You beat my ace with something that’s of a type disadvantage,” said Guzma.

“And I almost didn’t,” replied Remilia. “If it weren’t for First Impression and you used Waterfall instead, then Shayde would have either lost or this round would have ended in a draw. Of course, I would have shouted at Shayde to dodge it, but…”

Guzma simply scoffed. “You know, that Salazzle of yours… that speed of hers rivalled that of Plumes’.”

“Yeah, I will admit that Plumeria’s Salazzle was pretty amazing, too.”

“Are you two ready for the next round?” Trowa asked the two of them.

“Ya boi’s always ready!” Guzma replied enthusiastically.

“I’m ready to start the next round, too,” Remilia replied as well, thankful that Guzma didn’t throw a borderline hissy fit over his Golisopod losing.

“Then let’s begin the next round,” said Trowa.

The two Pokèmon Trainers returned to their original positions and got their Pokè Balls out--Guzma, another Ultra Ball; and Remilia, her Heal Ball, which contains her Mismagius Isabelle. Guzma let out his Masquerain while Remilia let out Isabelle.

“Second round…” Trowa announced. “Start!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Several hours later, Malie Seaside Hotel*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Duo woke up in his hotel bed, breathing heavily and feeling cold. He wants to think that the air conditioning might have been kicked into high gear making his own hotel room; but it’s a feeling that he’s starting to associate with his constant headaches, his recently surfaced upper back pains, feelings of magnetic pulls towards Heero that he’s been struggling against, and his body very slowly becoming black crystal. What the braided Deathscythe Hell pilot thinks is the worst of it is the whispering demonic voices in his head, all of them ranging from “hungry” to “need light” to most commonly, “light.” Just what the heck is with this “light” business? Does it have something to do with Duo slowly transforming into a crystal monster?

Duo looked out the window, the dark room being illuminated by the city lights of Malie. He originally thought these ones might be the one the voices in his head were talking about, but with Heero in the picture, that is no longer the case. 

Heero…

Duo wanted to sleep in a separate room from the other Gundam pilots, Heero especially, so he won’t be anywhere near him. He noticed that these magnetic pulls were getting stronger. Remilia agreed to cover all their rooms for one night, as she would rather sleep in her own bed in her own home, but had to convince Duo to sleep with Quatre and Trowa (in a separate bed) stating that it costs a little under 2,000 Pokèdollars less than him having a completely separate room (even though she has a lot of money from being Champion plus some pushing across seven digits from briefly working with the International Police to catch the Ultra Beasts roaming about in Alola; not that she would ever tell them that fact, of course).

Sighing and rubbing his head, Duo silently got out of bed--taking great care to not accidentally poke holes in or tear the sheets to shreds--put his shoes on, and stealthily went out his, Trowa’s and Quatre’s room and out of the hotel. The receptionist gave him an odd look as he went out of the lobby, but Duo stated to him that he’s going for a walk and that he won’t take long.

♫♩*~During the Plot - H/MIX Gallery~*♫♩

Fighting against his upper back pains and headaches that are almost intensified with the bright lights and ambient city noises, Duo decided to head for Malie Garden, not particularly caring if it would take longer than he promised. he just needed to put his mind off of his slow and painful transformation, even if it’s only for a little bit. Finally arriving there and stopping at the gold arch bridge, Duo started to rub his lower arms together, but it had proven futile given that his hands and wrists are numb despite the fact that he’s feeling cold even in this nighttime summer weather and the fact that the sensation of rubbing his arms together felt like he was rubbing himself against a rubber sheet on top of a bed of hammer nails. Suddenly, he clutched his head as a sharp pain entered him, and he forced himself to stifle a scream lest he would be heard by someone.

_ “Light…” _

There are the feral voices again.

_ “Light…!” _

_ “Shut up… shut your fucking mouth, please!! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!” _

“Target sighted,” a female voice said.

♫♩*~Ultra Recon Squad Encounter - Pokèmon Ultra Sun and Moon~*♫♩

Duo turned around to the voice’s source, half-hoping it was Heero, but his indigo eyes widened as he discovered it wasn’t him (with the additional logical sense that there was no way Heero would have been able to follow him, as he didn’t “sense” that he was behind him), but two individuals--one man and one woman--and he realized that their appearance fit Quatre’s description of them while they were in the hospital on Akala perfectly. Managing to bring his fears under control, he took a slightly closer look at them with suspicion. As he thought, these two are the people Quatre was talking about, except that they’re not wearing their visors; each of them have eyes as gray as a rainstorm cloud.

“What do you guys want?” Duo demanded, his fears being replaced by anger because of what they did to his blonde friend.

“What we want from you,” the man with the mustache began his reply. “Is  _ you _ .”

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” the woman next to him replied also. “You are one of the two keys for our mission.”

Duo frowned at them. “What sort of mission? And what do you mean by ‘one of two keys?’”

“You mean you do not know?” said the mustached man.

“Of course I don’t fucking know!” Duo all but yelled at them. “Just what do you want from me?!”

“Quite the temper you have there,” said the woman. “Very well, then. Since you don’t know, we will explain.”

“Long, long ago, in our homeworld,” the man began. “Our ancestors once worshipped what we had called the Blinding One. The Blinding One has provided us a great power of light to power are greatest technologies.

“But, our ancestors became greedy and used the Blinding One’s power more than it can provide. They decided to use their own technology to absorb all of the Blinding One’s power, but something went wrong.”

“The Blinding One’s power is already too great for our ancestors to control,” the woman continued. “In our ancestors’ attempt to totally absorb its power, a large Ultra Wormhole was created, and it seemed to disappear in a flash of light. Over time, we have learned to open the Ultra Wormholes with the Blinding One’s power to travel through different dimensions in hopes of where the Blinding One had went to.”

“Well, your little sob story’s all fine and good,” Duo cut in. “But it doesn’t explain why the hell I am growing black crystals all over my body!”

“That is what we have been trying to figure out,” the man replied calmly. “Your and that other boy’s aura readings are strikingly similar to the Blinding One’s.”

Duo’s eyes widened in realization as his mind absorbed the mustached man’s words. “Wait… so you guys have been following me and Heero all this time?! Then… that means… you two must’ve been in the Battle Royal Dome on Akala when my headaches and stuff started! And Quatre might have been protecting me and Heero from you!”

“If that is the case of this ‘Quatre’ protecting you and this ‘Heero,’” the woman said. “Then his efforts were sadly in vain.”

“Putting that aside,” said the man. “We have theorized that you and this ‘Heero’ are the separate reincarnations of the Blinding One.”

“‘Reincarnations?’” Duo repeated as cold dread rushed over him.

“Yes,” the woman replied. “We have decided to test out this theory to bring you two together, so that the two of you can give birth to a new Blinding One.”

_ So that explains everything,  _ Duo thought as he heard this information. “Does this involve some Silent Hill-style cult practice involving ginger ale and brain bleach?”

The man and woman frowned at him, likely disapproving of that snarky question. 

Duo reached into his back pocket and produced a small metal rod. He pressed a button on the side, and it suddenly expands to a hooked pole. He pressed the button and held it for almost a second and a bright green blade emerged from the inward curve of the hook, curving downwards, giving it an appearance of a scythe, similar to the beam scythe Gundam Deathscythe Hell has.

“Sorry, Mr. and Ms. Bond,” the braided pilot said as he gets into a fighting stance. “But I ain’t the type to go down without a fight. Or go along with your plans, for that matter.”

“Very well, then,” said the woman as she produces a deep blue gridded Pokè Ball with four gold arches. 

Then she throws it up into the air and shouts, “Go! Naganadel!”

♫♩*~Battle ~ Ultra Recon Squad - Pokèmon Ultra Sun and Moon~*♫♩

The blue gridded Pokè Ball opened up and let out a strange yet terrifying purple Pokèmon that looked like a cross between a needle syringe, a dragon and an alien with glowing visor-like eyes and mouth. It let out an alien-sounding roar as soon as it is released from its ball.

Duo’s eyes widened yet again at the sight of this creature. He and his friends might not have been in this world for very long, but even he can tell that this thing looks  _ way  _ too alien to ble a Pokèmon!

“Freaking A, this thing is bigger than Guzma’s Golisopod!” he exclaimed out loud without even realizing it.

“Naganadel, Fell Stinger!” the woman commanded.

The alien-dragon creature now known as Naganadel’s largest needle glowed with olive green sparks and charged down at Duo, but the latter was able to evade the attack while the former simply stabbed the ground, creating a small blast shock.

Fighting against his headaches and feral demonic voices in his head, the braided Gundam pilot charged at the Naganadel, scythe at the ready with intent leave a gash on its body. However, Naganadel was able to get itself out of the ground in time as the green thermal blade tried to slice its skin open. Naganadel attempted to stab Duo with its largest needle, but Duo again dodged the attack.

Seeing that this is getting nowhere, the woman then commanded, “Naganadel, Sludge Bomb!”

The alien-dragon Pokèmon positioned its large needles and spritzed out glowing blue adhesive liquid at Duo, but the latter was able to get out of its range quickly. In response, Duo let out a yell as he swung his laser scythe at the woman’s Naganadel. As soon as the glowing green blade made contact, Naganadel loudly roared in pain, loud enough that Duo had to cover his ears. It sounded like a hybrid between a demonic monster and an equally monstrous alien.

Naganadel charged at Duo yet again, this time with its largest needle pointed forwards, intending to impale him. The Deathscythe pilot was once again able to evade it, but the needle grazed his upper arm, tearing at the sleeve of his top and leaving a bleeding gash.

The woman shouted at Naganadel to use Whirlwind, which the purple dragon Pokèmon complied by flapping its wings repeatedly and aggressively at a high speed, creating a powerful gust of wind.

Duo shielded himself from the powerful winds with his arms, trying to not get blown away from it as hard as he could. He peeked up just to see Naganadel charging at him yet again, but luckily he was able to use the bottom base of his scythe in an effort to immediately stop it. More luckily, he was able to and the base was able to poke itself into Naganadel’s middle, earning an alien-like cough from it and somewhat incapacitating it.

Duo winced in pain from the graze he took and held his arm where he was cut. If this was a regular animal, Duo would have killed it by now and he would be the victor, but he and the rest of the Gundam pilots are in a world where animals such as this are trained by people to battle with; and besides, Remilia wouldn’t be very happy if Duo kills a Pokèmon, even if it’s accidental (although he doesn’t know if Remilia would let it slide if it was in self-defense). Plus, Duo seems to be having a better time than Quatre physically fighting a Pokèmon. He suddenly wondered it this Naganadel might be related to the Poipole Quatre fought.

After recovering from its blow to the middle, Naganadel was then commanded to use Sludge Bomb yet again and it positioned itself the same as the previous time. Once again, Duo was able to elude the attack, although the glowing blue liquid hit his lower arm. Mercifully, the pain was extremely minimal as it was covered in black crystal, but he was struck down to the grassy ground by the liquid, causing him to scream in pain from the harshly burning sensation.

His face contorting in pain, Duo looked up to the Naganadel, and his face contorted yet again in horror when he fully realized that this Naganadel is actual Poipole’s evolved form. If that makes sense, then it would mean that the alien-dragon Pokèmon has to be a lot more powerful and possibly faster than when it was a Poipole.

The man and woman stood from either side of Duo as he lay on the ground by the glowing blue adhesive and stared at him, seemingly expressionless. The best Duo could do is try to glare at them back, trying to impose fear on them as the God of Death, as he refers to himself as.

“I must applaud to you,” the woman became the first to speak. “I am rather amazed that you were able to stand your own against my Naganadel. It’s a pity that you didn’t last as long as this Quatre fellow.”

“So this Naganadel of yours is an adult form of the Poiple Quat talked about?” Duo hissed at them, trying to ignore the burning pain.

“Yes,” the woman replied. “Naganadel is Poipole’s final evolved form.”

“So, what exactly are you going to do to me, now that I’m trapped in this glowing blue rubber cement shit that burns like hell?”

“I believe it should be obvious to you by now,” the man replied on behalf of the woman. He then took out a device, the same one as he used last time when Duo and Remilia were in the Battle Royal Dome arena. “We will make the first half of the Blinding One come forth. And then you will take it from here by finding the other half, the one you call Heero.”

“In your fucking dreams, you stupid Waluigi impersonater!” Duo fired at him.

♫♩*~Enveloping Dark Clouds - Namco x Capcom~*♫♩

The mustached man ignored the insult and and turned the dial on the device in his hands. Duo started to scream in pain as the feral voices picked up in intensity, all of them shouting “light” in various tones, growls, keys and pitches. At the same time, more black crystals have started to sprout and grow from his skin, especially from his face, jawline and temples, his upper back, and his feet, which is starting to tear and poke from the toes of his ankle boots. 

As Duo screamed, he writhed not only from the pain and the voices, but also trying to free himself from the sticky glowing blue liquid, although moving around in it--especially if it feels like it’s burning him alive--only proves to be more painful the more he moved. 

“STOP IT!” Duo screamed at the top of his lungs, not caring if there is a slight change to his voice. “LET ME GO! JUST LET ME FUCKING GO!!”

The man and woman continued to ignore Duo’s screams for help, fully confident in the fact that no one is or would be hear him, as they believed that Duo’s constant screaming and crying is nothing but futile.

Suddenly, the woman was taken down by an invisible force, and so did the man who had just noticed that his colleague had fallen. A pair of red eyes with black pupils appeared along with a toothy smile, and lastly, a funny- yet scary-looking dark violet shadowy form consisting of a round body, thick arms and legs with multiple tufts of “fur” sticking out from its back. 

Both the man and woman were able to get up, only to be met by a tanned young woman who appears to be in her early twenties and wearing a black outfit consisting of a sleeveless crop top that wholly reveals her midriff along with a hot pink stylized flame tattoo on either side of her upper hips that goes under her baggy pants, white high-top sneakers and a gray-violet bandana that covers her hot pink and yellow hair styled into separating pigtails of each color.

“Let that kid go,” the young woman said in a contralto voice. 

“We are extremely busy,” said the man. “Why are you interfering with us?”

“Because if I hadn’t known any better,” the young woman replied as she crossed her arms. “You’re just bullying the kid with whatever you’re doing, if his constant screaming is of any indication. If you don’t let him go now, my Gengar’s toxic fumes can put instant death upon you both. If you guys value your lives, then piss off.”

Both the man and woman said nothing, but simply returned their Naganadel to its ball and walked out the only exit of Malie Garden and disappearing into the city.

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

Watching them leave, the young tanned woman approached Duo, who was still moaning in pain and currently fighting to stay conscious. The young woman winced a little at the sight and state he was in, but she got an Ultra Ball out of one of her pants pockets and lets out a different Pokèmon than her other ghostly Pokèmon called Gengar. 

The Pokèmon looks like a cross between a gorilla, a large-eared chinchilla with a tail as thick as a reptile’s, a mouth that almost closely resembles a rhinoceros’s and some traits of a porcupine with thick blue fur with finer beige fur shaping its breasts and abdomen and crotch. 

“Ice Punch, Nidoqueen,” the young woman commanded.

The blue Pokèmon now known as Nidoqueen formed one of its clawed hands into a fist as light blue energy surrounds it. Then it slams its fist down on the glowing blue adhesive, freezing it in ice in almost an instant. The young woman then ordered her Nidoqueen to use Brick Break repeatedly on the now-frozen adhesive, eventually breaking it enough so that large pieces of it can be removed. The young woman, her Gengar and her Nidoqueen immediately went to work on removing the frozen pieces until enough has been removed to give Duo some physical wiggle room. 

Speaking of, Duo moaned from both pain and the exhaustion of feeling intense pain. He moved his head a little to see a tanned hand from the young woman a couple feet away from his face. Swallowing, Duo put his black crystal-clawed hand into hers, no longer caring if he accidentally pricked her with the slightly sharp edges. 

The young woman helped him get back up to his feet, despite her shock, and asked him, “Are you all right?”

Duo only moaned in response as he placed his clawed fingers to his head.

“I think you should go and see a doctor,” said the woman, concern evident in her voice. “You’re not looking so hot.”

Duo didn’t say anything (or moaned, for that matter). He just closed his laser scythe and put it back in his pocket and walked out of Malie Garden, leaving the young woman perplexed. And worried for his health and well-being.

♫♩*~Cradle - Elfen Lied~*♫♩

Duo walked in a miserable manner all the way back to Malie Seaside Hotel. On the way there, he had fallen to his knees several times, gathering whatever strength he had left to fight against the voices in his head, but given how far he as transformed, maybe it might have been proven futile. Maybe this is what the man and woman wanted with him. They simply untied the knot sealing whatever it is was within him for God knows how long and have been trying to rouse it into taking over not just his body, but his mind. That must be the reason why they’re after Heero, too. Plus, since he’s already getting closer to him… it might be already too late. This is why… he needs to do this… before he gets consumed.

The braided Gundam pilot stumbled into the elevator, using what little remaining strength that has not been sapped from him to press the button of the floor Heero’s room is on. As soon as the white elevator doors close, Duo collapsed on the floor panting, almost tempted to cry. He started growl--almost inhumanly--and flexed his black crystal claws as he went on fours. The back of his clothes ripped away, his back revealing three sharp jointed crystals thinning at the end, almost giving the impression of wings, and a black crystal reptilian tail erupting from where his buttocks start to rise and round.

Despite this, Duo put his head in his hand, in possibly one last attempt to fight against the feral voices and possibly still retain is already fading self. As soon as the elevator reached the floor of Heero’s room--which felt like an eternity--and the white doors open, he crawled out while his moans from pain intensified, almost into cries. He forced himself to look up and forward, and several feet in front of him, a familiar silhouette in the darkness stared at him. He also seems to be glowing rather faintly.

Still fighting back the feral urges to jump and attack him, Duo pleaded with his eyes to him to do it. The silhouette slowly reached behind his back and takes out a handgun, and pointed it at him, his finger ready to pull the trigger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens even more, ooh~~
> 
> Also, the beginning makes me hungry for a malasada. Is that weird?


	12. Feral Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~! If you've made it this far in this fic, then thankies! It would also help to leave a comment and sub to me!
> 
> Also to the guest reader, thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU so much for leaving a kudos onto my work; I'm very very glad you're enjoying this fic it makes me sooooo happy!
> 
> This chapter is where Remilia finally learns the truth! How will she take it? Please read and leave a comment! <3

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Malie Seaside Hotel, Night*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

_ Heero was sleeping deeply in his hotel room, with no sounds present save for the quiet ambient city noises… and the hard thumping in his heart. It had been quite a day for him and the other Gundam pilots. First, they were sucked through a bright blue wormhole not long after Heero shot a falling piece of the battleship Libra to pieces, then they were separated from not only their respective Gundams, but from each other. Heero, Trowa and Quatre landed on Melemele Island where they were found by Remilia; Duo on Akala next and finally Wufei on Ula’ula. Their landing in this world from theirs and their subsequent separation is not the worst of their current troubles, nor is it being possibly trapped there, from Heero’s perspective. It was this strange magnetic pull towards Duo. And then there’s the black crystals growing out of Duo’s skin all over. And lastly, two strange individuals named Phyco and Soliera that might be stalking them, according to Quatre, who had the misfortune of encountering them. Whatever they want with Heero and Duo, he doesn’t even know… but he has to find out. It’s like he once said; anybody who toys with his life is his enemy (and by extension, his friends, especially Duo). _

♫♩*~Sorrowful Sky - Elfen Lied~*♫♩

_ Heero opened up his cobalt blue eyes, easily adjusting to the darkness as he felt a thin blanket of warm air around him, which is making him feel a little hot. As he got up into a sitting position, he noticed that he was glowing and sparkling all over yet again, this time it looked a little more intense than usual. Is it because Heero was sitting near-total darkness? Or something is about to happen? _

_ His ears perked up when he heard a little bell noise; the one he had been hearing all this time whenever he was near Duo, except in the previous times, it was very faint. Now, it feels more intense. Every time he hears that noise, he couldn’t even see its source. He has been hearing it in his head for some time. Almost as if the little bell noise was resonating, bouncing off of Duo’s growing black crystals, bypassing his ears and into his brain. _

_ Feeling that the little bell noise is growing a little stronger every several seconds, Heero puts his gold sneakers on, adjusting his loose ankle socks, and takes his handgun off of the cherry wood nightstand (actually, Remilia would call it Cheri Berry wood), turning the safety off. He slowly makes his way to the room door, the little bell noise ever growing slightly more intense with each step he took. He opened the door to very dim lights, and he had to blink a few times to adjust to the almost sudden lighting change.  _

_ The Wing Zero pilot stepped out of his hotel room, closed the door, and stepped to the end of the hallway in front of the white window, staring at the elevator with the white doors on the other end. He took a couple steps forward on the beige carpeting and stopped. Heero knows that he is waiting for something, and although he has a slightly good idea, he doesn’t know what. Maybe it’s Duo… or perhaps something else. _

_ Suddenly, he heard a “ding!” sound coming from the elevator, and its white doors opened with a familiar silhouette. This familiar silhouette had black, seemingly stiff wings on his back, a few areas of his clothes torn. He could hear him moaning in pain and misery, but something about his moans sounded… off. He could hear a slight feral tone to it, almost a reverb. _

_ The silhouette slowly crawled towards him out of the elevator, its doors closing. The painful moans sounded a little more unsettling, almost as if he was being possessed by something… or maybe, transforming into something. The braided silhouette brought his head up to him, his indigo eyes having a dark rainbow like automobile oil in a puddle of water on black asphalt on a rainy day. He was in great pain, suffering badly, even. His eyes pleaded with him to put him out of his misery… before it’s too late. _

_ Heero read the expression in his eyes and on his face… and he understood. He held the gun up forward, finger ready to pull the trigger. Duo once said to him that it was always his destiny to be killed by him, one known as the Perfect Soldier. _

******************************************************************

_ “...Light… _

_ “...LIGHT!!” _

******************************************************************

♫♩*~Enormous Ambition - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

Duo suddenly lunged at Heero at the blink of an eye, causing the latter to accidentally shoot the gun to the ceiling. Duo roared as he grabbed Heero’s shoulder with his clawed hands, pushing him through the window pain, but Heero was able to grab the braided pilot’s wrists and manipulates his body to break the glass and through the third floor window that was on the left side of the building. As they were falling, Heero kicked Duo off of him and positions himself into a fetal position in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of serious injury as soon as he hits the asphalt. By pure luck, he was able to land on a few plastic trash cans that are right next to one of the emergency exits in the hotel. He briefly saw Duo charging at him and shot at his shoulder in an effort to distract him. As he was able to successfully make the shot with Duo reacting in pain, Heero was able to get himself up, ignoring the bits and pieces of rotting food and other trash and ran away from the building area.

Heero ran as far as he could from Duo, whom he is now sure taken over by whatever it is that might be related to the black crystals growing from his skin as well as what had happened in Battle Royal Dome several hours earlier. He also knew from Quatre that the two strangers named Phyco and Soliera most likely have something to do with what is happening to him and Duo right now. By chance that he sees them, he will be demanding answers from them, even if it meant fighting against their Poipole.

Heero turned to his left to see if there are any people entering their parked cars; he could use one to at least lure Duo away from any least populated area so that he could shoot him dead, to free him and himself from all this. Lady luck smiled upon him once again as he sees a rugged-looking fellow--possibly a little drunk--fumbling with his car keys. Wasting no time, Heero ran up to the individual--who appeared to be an office worker--took his keys and shoved him out of the way, with the stranger shouting “Hey!” in a slurred voice.

He immediately got into the car, put the keys in the ignition and started the engine. As soon as he placed his hand on the stick shift to get out of parking, he noticed it was oddly shaped. He looked down and is in internal shock at what car he just got in.  _ Shit, it’s automatic shifting,  _ he thought.

Heero was immediately brought out of his thoughts as he felt the car shake twice. Berating himself for getting distracted while on the mission, he shifted the car out of parking and immediately went out of the parallel parking space and onto the street, tires screeching loudly as he drove at a high speed.

Behind Heero, Duo pursued, roaring inhumanly and flapping his black crystal glowing rainbow light bat wings, his arm having a new gash from when he was fighting Phyco and Soliera’s Naganadel. Duo wasn’t even himself anymore, his mind almost lost to the feral beast that had been sleeping inside of him for God knows how long; something he did not even know about until it was too late to try and free himself from it.

Heero sped down the street, running a few red lights in the process. He remembers that Remilia told him that the Outer Cape Disposal is on the outskirts of Malie, so his new plan is to lure Duo there and in the process, kill him. The real question is whether or not he can pull it off, given Duo’s newfound ungodly speed. He checked the rearview mirror. Duo’s still pursuing him, and he’s got darkly glowing but soul-piercing rainbow eyes to boot.

The Wing Zero pilot swerved his stolen car to right and towards a building in the distance, where he presumes is the building that contains all the garbage and recycling in Malie City as well as Ula’ula and all of Alola. He turned out to be right as soon as he saw a sign with lights flashing on the lettering saying “Malie Outer Cape Disposal” and sped past it. All he has to do is stop as soon as he reaches a parking area (just so he wouldn’t risk accidentally driving off the cliff and falling into the ocean) and shoot at Duo.

As soon as he did, Heero, screeched the car to a stop, turned off the engine and got out of the car, his handgun at the ready, all in one swift motion. As soon as he saw Duo flying at him, he shot at him. Unfortunately, only one bullet was able to make contact with him on his left arm after his shots missed due to Duo’s speed and he seems to be getting even closer to him every time he dodges. 

Not wanting to waste his shots, Heero jumped out of the way as soon as Duo lunged at him, sharp black claws first. He shot at him twice again, one bullet hitting him yet again and letting out an inhuman reverb scream. Duo jumped at him again, his light wings giving him a full boost; Heero tried to evade, but Duo was able to grab his calf and forced him down, causing Heero to cry out.

Heero tried to wrestle himself out of Duo’s grasp, but the now feral Gundam pilot scratched at his arms and shoulders as the former tried to do so, sometimes ripping at his dark green tank top. It eventually got to the point where Duo started to physically tear and rip pieces of Heero’s tank top and bicycle shorts until only his boxers (and socks and gold sneakers) were left over despite Heero’s best efforts in trying to pry Duo off of him.

With his clawed hands, Duo stabbed Heero in the chest, causing him to scream briefly, and held them in place. Glowing, sparkling light started to flow from Heero’s chest and into his hand, then his arm, his shoulder and slowly starts to flow all over his body. Heero stared with uncharacteristically wide eyes at what was happening just now. He tried to feel for his handgun with both of his hands, only to find out that it was actually thrown out of range into the grass somewhere. Heero suddenly found himself growing tired, almost as if Duo is draining the literal life out of him.

Suddenly, he heard a gunshot as soon as he sees a bullet chip off one of the black crystal spikes on Duo’s left shoulder. He forced his head to turn and see if the others might have heard the first gunshot as soon as Duo attacked him. As he did, however, his vision started to blur; but he was able to get a glimpse of pink, teal and blue as well as muffled noise, loud or normal. The last thing he heard was someone, a girl, shouting something, followed by Duo’s near-alien screaming and flashes of shadowy purple.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Aether Paradise, Medical Floor; Early Morning*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

Remilia stared at the doctors that work for Aether Paradise, her hand on the glass window pane. The other side of the window pane had a room, illuminated by a combination of regular fluorescent and blue light. Duo laid on the bed, unconscious, stripped of his usual clothes and wearing a dull purple and gray form-fitting bodysuit exposing only his arms where the elbows bend, heels of his feet and a neckline that goes up to his chin to the point of covering it. The black crystals remained where they are, as the Aether medical team said that they’re too stubborn to remove and they can’t risk serious injury to him even if they use a Pokèmon that specializes in physical power. She knew from Quatre that something might be wrong with him starting from that incident in Battle Royal Dome yesterday, but she never imagined that it would escalate in such a short period of time. And she figured that Quatre couldn’t have imagined it, either.

What had happened with Heero and Duo last night was all but a blur to her, almost like a dream. She woke up in her own bed half past two in the morning, her Rotom Dex pestering her to wake up while the chorus of Across the End by Two-Mix (her ringtone of choice whenever someone video-calls her while on the go) sounds through the speakers. Angry at the thought of being woken up, she took the call to see Trowa (she gave the pilots her video call number so that she can pick them up at their agreed time), who had just woken up and told her that something has happened to Heero and Duo and and that he, Quatre and Wufei need her immediately. Remilia pressed for details, but Trowa said that there’s no time for that. And so, she immediately got herself dressed into her regular clothes and snuck out the door, careful not to wake her mother up and rode to Malie City on Ula’ula as fast as she could, pushing her ride Flygon’s speed to the absolute limit.

As soon as she saw Duo--who is almost wholly transformed and vaguely resembles a shiny Charizard with glowing rainbow wings--Remilia followed him and Heero to Malie Outer Cape Disposal (while noticing a single police car following them). Wasting no time in finally catching up to them, her ride Flygon landed as soon as Duo attacked Heero and tearing off his clothes (literally) and got off of it. She remembers wincing when Heero screamed as Duo punctured his claws into him; even now, she can still hear his scream in her mind. As she started to witness both of them being basked in this strange golden light, Remilia immediately sent out Isabelle, placed her Ghost-type Z-Crystal on the indent where her Farium Z usually is and used Never-Ending Nightmare on him in an effort to stop him and save Heero. Her chest hurt as she heard Duo’s almost alien screams as he was consumed by purple energy and falling unconscious. 

As soon as that’s done, she took out her Rotom Dex and video-called Gladion, ignoring his grumpy cold protests of being awaken suddenly, and told him to have the medical floor on Aether Paradise ready and send a couple of their ferries there because Duo’s hurt really badly, further saying that she’ll have Quatre, Trowa and Wufei explain all the details as soon as they arrive there.

Soon after, a few more police cars arrived as well as a paramedic car. It took Quatre and Remilia a whole lot of convincing them about what had really happened, such as why Heero carjacked the drunken man and also why he shot his gun at the ceiling, never mind how he had obtained it, let alone how he was able to bring the weapon into Malie Seaside Hotel, with one of the officers very sternly saying that Heero will be arrested for carrying a weapon anywhere, especially if he was carrying said weapon into a public building such as the hotel, as well as carjacking said drunken man as soon as he recovers and is discharged from the hospital in Malie.

Hospitals… Remilia always felt that hospitals are rather constricting, maybe oppressive. Especially since her father died. Even now, her discomfort was increasing by the minute the longer she stared at Duo’s unconscious form. Every time they get near each other, or get close to each other, she felt a strange type of affection that she hasn’t felt in what feels like a lifetime. Being with Duo, spending time with him… it felt a little too reminiscent of being with her father once again.

“Miss Remilia?”

Remilia turned her head sharply, surprised, at the Gastly-haired, glasses-wearing, somewhat plump woman who said her name. She always has a kind and understanding smile on her face.

The woman’s face immediately turned apologetic. “Did I startle you?”

“No, no you didn’t, Wicke,” Remilia replied. “I didn’t really see you approach me.”

The woman named Wicke smiled again. “It’s alright.”

Wicke stared through the window pane, watching the doctors walking about. “This young one… is he a friend of yours?”

“You could say that…” Remilia answered almost softly.

“I see…” Wicke stayed quiet for a little bit before saying, “Speaking of, three people arrived here via the ferry.”

Remilia finally gained her ability to turn her head around to face her. “So Gladion told you? About what happened?”

“Yes,” Wicke replied. “And the other three also filled in on the details. I’m very sorry for those boys for what they have gone through. Especially the one in the hospital on Ula’ula right now…”

“They didn’t deserve this…” Remilia said before she was able to stop it at her mouth.  _ Neither Heero nor Duo deserved it. _

“No, they did not,” Wicke agreed.

Both said nothing for up to a minute until Remilia let out a sigh that had been trapped in her lungs and left to the hallway without saying anything. Leaning her back against a wall, she took out a gray device from the crotch of her short shorts (an embarrassing spot, admittedly, but she simply hid it there by reflex as soon as Trowa called her name) she had found lying closely to Heero while he was unconscious while the police conveniently weren’t looking. She never really took the time to examine it further, so now would be a good time to do it while she was alone.

Remilia looked at the device for a little longer, wondering if this was a Pokègear prototype, or an early version of the Pokègear way back when; it even had a small button on the left, just below the largest part of it. Going along with this theory, she opened up the lid, slowly and carefully, revealing a screen and a small keypad with fifteen small white square buttons, two gray rectangular buttons and a red button and green button the same size as the white ones. She pressed the button that she thinks would turn it on. The monitor opened to a blue screen with two white lines that cross horizontally and vertically and meet each other, each of them having even smaller lines that cross through them. A few seconds later, white text replaced the lines, saying in all capital letters, saying “UNABLE TO FIND GUNDAM SIGNAL.”

_ “Gundam?” _ Remilia thought, perplexed.  _ I thought this thing was a Pokègear prototype, or one of the early models of one. What were--? _

“Hey!”

The pink-haired girl’s train of thought was interrupted again and she looked up who had just shouted her name, and before she knew it, Wufei ran up to her and grabbed the device from her hand.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing with this?!” Wufei shouted at her.

“W-what are you…?” was all Remilia can reply due to her confusion.

“What were you doing with Heero’s Gundam start key?!”

“‘Gundam start key?’” she repeated.

“Wufei!”

The two teenagers saw Quatre and Trowa jogging towards them and Quatre took the gray device what Wufei calls a “start key” from him

“What do you think you’re doing?” Quatre asked.

“Why are you putting the blame on me?!” Wufei continued to shout. “Remilia was the one who took Heero’s start key!”

“You agreed to keep this secret, Wufei! Now look what you’ve done!”

Wufei turned his head around fast back to Remilia, who looked a little more confused.

“Um…” she started to say. “What was that about a start key and a Gundam?”

Wufei, Quatre and Trowa looked unsure what to say. The Sandrock pilot became the first to sigh and relax his shoulders. No thanks to Wufei, the jig is up. There really is no hiding from what they really are, given that Remilia found Heero’s Gundam start key.

“What is going on here?” Remilia asked them. “What are you guys hiding?”

♫♩*~Sorrow - Xenosaga Episode I~*♫♩

Quatre approached her first. “Remilia… Trowa, Wufei and myself have a confession to make. This also concerns Heero and Duo as well.”

Remilia swallowed, but then said, with the intention of easing herself, she decided to listen anyway.

“You see…” Quatre began. “Trowa, Wufei, Heero, Duo and myself aren’t actually university students from Unova. We’re actually not from Unova. And we’re not… actually from this world, either.”

“...Not… from this world?” Remilia asked slowly, finding herself not believing what she’s hearing.

Quatre shook his head as a response. “We’re… we’re actually Gundam pilots. From a different dimension.”

_ “Different… dimension?”  _ Remilia mentally repeated the words Quatre had said.  _ Wait… then this might mean they were sucked through the Ultra Wormhole. _ Worry immediately replaced her confusion. So it is possible that alternate dimensions exist beyond the Ultra Wormhole, even without Pokèmon ever existing, and the pilots’ world is no exception. If these things were the case, then the problem of Ultra Wormholes opening spontaneously no thanks to that bitch queen could be worse than she or the International Police once thought.

“We’re very sorry we lied to you,” Quatre said quietly, his tone laced with sadness and guilt. 

“Why… why didn’t you tell me all this?” asked Remilia.

“We figured that you wouldn’t even believe us if we told you,” Trowa replied in place of Quatre. “So we ultimately had no choice but to conceal our actual circumstances while we’re with you so that we would blend in for the time being until we could find our Gundams and get back to our home.”

There was a long, heavy pause in the air before Remilia replied, “Actually… in retrospect, I would have believed you all if you had told me.”

“Would you really?” asked Wufei sardonically.

“Wufei,” Quatre said to him to watch his tone.

“Yes, I would have…” said Remilia. “Because I actually have something to share that could help you guys.”

“Really?” said Quatre, his visible eye flickering once with hope.

“Yeah. A few weeks ago, the former Aether president used a power. A power only found in a Pokèmon she had stolen. She used that power to open up not just one, but several Ultra Wormholes to let out strange beings known as Ultra Beasts for her collection.”

“Ultra Wormhole?” Trowa asked.

“Ultra Beast?” Quatre asked as well.

Wufei growled softly in the background at the act of injustice Remilia had just described to them.

“Yeah,” Remilia continued. “If you said you came from another dimension, then it’s no mistake that you five got sucked through the Ultra Wormhole, along with your Gundams. Actually… did you guys get sucked in all at once?”

“Yes,” Quatre answered. “It was during the Eve Wars back in our home dimension and it was just after Heero shot down a chunk of a battleship called Libra from dropping it into one of Earth’s oceans. I think that’s when this Ultra Wormhole first opened up and swallowed us in there. It’s a miracle that we’re all alive.”

Remilia compressed her lips together in thought.  _ It’s as I thought, those five really did travel through the Ultra Wormhole.  _ “...I would have to guess that the impact and aftermath might have been a little worse than I once thought.”

“The Ultra Wormhole should get us back home, correct?” asked Wufei.

“Yes it should…” replied Remilia.

“I can’t help but feel there’s a ‘but’ in this,” Trowa deducted.

“There is. The Ultra Wormhole is the only way back home for you five, but as I’ve said, they’re rather spontaneous, thus hard to predict when one or more of them will appear. And besides, even if you do go through one, the gravity pull would just send you through one of them and there’s no telling where you’ll end up. The same applies if you’re looking for your Gundams.”

Wufei scoffed as he crossed his arms. “So, in other words, this Ultra Wormhole is, in theory, the best and only way home, but all this mumbo-jumbo makes it near-impossible for us to retrieve our Gundams, let alone getting home  _ with _ them intact?”

“It is. But I do have a solution that should mitigate almost all of it, though.”

Wufei raised a brow in skepticism. “You do, huh?”

“Yes. But it’s in my only PC storage box, in Pokè Pelago. It has the power to create and travel through Ultra Wormholes. We can use those wormholes to find your Gundams and get yourselves back home.”

Quatre’s single blue eye eye became filled with hope and relief. Trowa looks relieved, too, and Wufei looks satisfied. “Remilia… we… we don’t know what to say. Maybe, thanks?”

“There’s still a couple problems, though,” said Trowa.

“What do you mean?” asked Remilia.

“For one, Heero’s still in the hospital recovering from his injuries. If he gets discharged, the police could arrest him for carrying a firearm into the hotel and making a disturbance, even though it’s just to catch our attention.”

“And for another,” Wufei added. “Duo’s still in there, lying like a crystal vegetable.”

“Trowa and I already have deduced that the crystals growing from Duo’s skin might have something to do with the two strangers Quatre met,” said Remilia. “You said that their names are Phyco and Soliera, right, Quatre?”

“Yes,” Quatre confirmed. “At least that’s what I’ve been hearing them call each other.”

“And the glowing light we have seen Duo apparently absorb from Heero is just one more clue next to Duo almost wholly transformed into a black crystal dragon.”

“It’s pretty clear now that this Phyco and Soliera wanted this light that Heero had apparently had within him,” Trowa added. “And the fact that they apparently want Duo to transform into this thing to absorb said light.”

“That’s around four puzzle pieces fitting together,” said Quatre. “What’s remaining is what’s all of that for. What were those two trying to gain from Duo’s transformation and the light that Heero has inside of him?”

“I think the only way to get these kinds of answers is to find them ourselves,” Wufei proposed. “They’ll pay dearly for bringing torment to Duo and Heero, Duo, mostly. Cowards, they are.”

“I wouldn’t really say that, Wufei,” said Quatre in a bid to make the Altron pilot’s already rousing wrath under control.

“Quatre’s right,” said Remilia. “These Phyco and Soliera guys could be coming to Aether Paradise as we speak, maybe already snuck on and are looking for us.”

“What about Duo’s condition, though?” asked Wufei.

“I’ll try to think up a suitable solution for that. I’m gonna go and check up on Heero to see how he’s doing, maybe sneak him out of the hospital without the police noticing a thing.”

“Yeah,  _ if  _ there are no police officers at the ER doors, the waiting room, or guarding Heero’s hospital room,” said Wufei rather pessimistically.

Remilia gave him a look. “Trust me.”

“Yeah,” said Quatre. “This  _ is  _ Heero we’re talking about. He could sneak out of the hospital in no problem.”

“Except that he could get the charge of public indecency added to the list,” said Remilia. “Let me handle them. I can use my Champion status to tell them to drop the charges against him.”

“Is that logical?” Trowa asked in a deadpan manner.

“You guys wanted to go home, and I have the means to make that happen. But I also have to make sure that everyone here is present with their Gundams and that their overall well-being is looked after properly.”

“Please, stay safe while retrieving Heero, Remilia,” said Quatre with motherly concern.

Remilia nodded. “I will. And I’ll ensure Heero’s safety, too. I’ll promise you guys that.”

_ Please do, _ Quatre thought.  _ We all know how stubborn Heero can be. _

Remilia parted with the other Gundam pilots and headed for the hallway she was in that leads to the lobby, which is where the large triangular elevator is. She walked up to one of the female Aether employees operating it and she pressed a button going down to the Aether Paradise entrance. As soon as Remilia went outside, she called upon her ride Flygon and she flew to Ula’ula Island within the turquoise-gray sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I grew up with stick-shift cars being commonplace in the 2000's and I remember my mom having trouble with one of the automatic gear-shifting, Heero facing a small dilemma of having to drive a car that has autoshifting is a reflection of that. Besides, he once drove an ambulance that has manual gear-shifting; considering the time period Wing takes place in, you'd think that manual gear-shifting would be a thing of the past.
> 
> But oh, well. ￣＼(シ)／￣ Zeerust, I guess.
> 
> Anyway, since today is the start of work week, I will not be posting a new chapter until the day after tomorrow. Thankfully, I work only two days next week, so I'll be finished with this fic as soon as March starts.
> 
> See you around~


	13. Truth Revealed

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*???*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Follow Fi - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword~*♫♩

_ Heero rests unconscious on a black glass bed in a room full of black crystal with occasional highlights of dark purple. The sharp, puncturing pain in his chest had dulled immensely, leaving only faint aches and feelings of tightness. From his perspective, he is sleeping in a black void, unable to move or feel. Slowly, Heero opened his eyes; instead of his usual cobalt blue, his eyes are a steel gray. _

_ Discovering he can move again, Heero slowly got up from the black glass bed and ran a hand through his dark hair. As he did, he noticed that his palm, fingers and thumb are… a dark turquoise? He turned his wrist around to discover that it is white; and it was then that he realized, he was wearing the same suit as Quatre described back on Heahea City on Akala (at least the one without the jodhpurs). He stood up and looked down on the black glass floor. His skin is paper-white, and his usual dark hair has taken on a violet hue. Is this a dream he’s experiencing while he was comatose? Or is there a deeper meaning behind this? _

_ Heero looked back up, and he noticed a figure with long blond hair that goes down to its heels, with three thick braids tied by a pink, powdery blue and pastel yellow ribbon wrapped around on each. The figure is looking outside a black-purple crystal balcony, looking out to what appears to be a city made from the same black-purple crystal material as the room Heero woke up in. _

_ Believing that this figure knows something, Heero slowly approached it. Perhaps he or she can know what is going on, and why Heero had changed into the same species as the two strangers Quatre talked about (assuming that said strangers are part of an alien species). _

_ Not before getting into a two-foot distance between the individual and himself, the former slowly turned around to face him, revealing itself to be a young woman of a normal complexion, with bangs looking somewhat similar to Duo’s. She was wearing a long flowing lavender dress with long sleeves that are gold-trimmed, plus pale green oversleeves that reach to her elbows and one light purple oversleeve that splits at her shoulders. She is also wearing a light orange sleeveless over jacket that is also gold-trimmed, fastened together with a brown belt and a mysterious gold emblem with a dull turquoise gem that looks a lot like a Z-Crystal. The most striking feature about the woman is her eyes, each of which a different set of colors fading within each other, and her slit pupils, giving off a draconic appearance. The woman’s expression read a combination of guilt, sadness, and grief. At the same time, the woman looked like she was expecting Heero to come over to her. _

_ “You’re awake,” the woman said to him. _

_ “No,” replied Heero. “I’m not.”  _

_ “...I know.” _

_ “Besides… I’m still unconscious from the attack Duo inflicted upon me.” _

_ “That is not Duo.” _

_ Heero blinked at her. “What?” _

_ “That is not Duo.” _

_ “But… Duo…” _

_ “What you have seen might be Duo to you… but he was possessed by Necrozma. Or rather, the soul of Necrozma.” _

_ This is already getting weirder for Heero. He knew that Duo might be possessed by something the minute he jumped him, but… _

_ “You do not believe me,” said the woman after she noticed Heero’s silence. _

_ Heero stared at her intensely. “I do believe you. But I need to know the truth behind all this. Why Duo became what he currently is, and why I sometimes glow and sparkle. Contrary to what you might think, this isn’t actually the first time I’ve noticed this. It’s been happening to me almost my whole life, for as long as I can remember.” _

_ The woman heard his entire response without saying a word. “So you wish to know the truth behind all this? Why your friend Duo had attacked you, and why you let off a sparkling glow from time to time? _

_ “More than anything,” the Wing Zero pilot responded, now desperate to get to the bottom of this, even tell the other pilots and Remilia about it. _

_ The woman extended her hand to him, gesturing him to come over to the crystal balcony with her. Heero complied and walked towards a spot closely next to the woman. He looked at the city made from crystal, which reached for hundreds of miles. The crystal buildings looked ancient, but they felt empty. The sky is a gradient of gold and orange, like a fire in the darkness, or an ancient Roman city in early twilight; Heero briefly scanned the vast crystal city, and looked up to the golden sunset sky. He sees some purple streaks flowing towards a black hole-like void, which hovers above a crystal tower that seems more modern than the rest of the crystal buildings. The tower is glowing with white light spreading all about that can reach almost the same size as the city. _

_ “This is Ultra Megalopolis,” the woman began to explain. “In ancient times, I was worshipped as a god, who brought light into this world. I was called ‘the Blinding One’ for this reason.” _

_ Heero wanted to ask why the woman was referring to herself and not this Necrozma, but he thought it best to not interrupt. _

_ “As the ancient Megalopians evolved, so, too, did their technology,” the woman continued. “The machines they have made required the use of my power. Eventually, they had become greedy and used my power of light more and more than they should have, and long into, I started to grow weak. Eventually, they sought to completely take all my power at once for their own gain. But… nobody could have predicted what would happen next. _

_ “Whether it was my doing or not, I do not remember. All that I can was that an Ultra Wormhole had opened, and eventually, I was swallowed into it. At the same time, I was split into two entities: Necrozma’s light and Necrozma’s soul. I, the light, split into further pieces, lost into the wormhole, but the bulk of myself had gone to a different dimension, as did the soul.” _

_ Heero listened to every word the woman had said, and everything had dawned on him in almost an instant. “Necrozma’s soul and light went to the same dimension Duo, myself, and my other fellow Gundam pilots reside in. Then… that means…” _

_ “Yes…” the woman confirmed. “Duo is the reincarnation of Necrozma’s soul. You are the reincarnation of Necrozma’s light.” _

_ It all made sense now. He knew that something might be wrong with Duo when Quatre brought up his sprouting black crystals from his skin, but he never imagined that Duo would be the reincarnation of Necrozma’s soul. _

_ But even with this new information, Heero still has a couple of unanswered questions. “If Duo is the reincarnation of this Necrozma’s soul and I of the light, why do I keep feeling these magnetic pulls towards him? And what of Phyco and Soliera, the two people that have been stalking me and Duo for no more than two days?” _

_ “Necrozma’s soul has hungered for light,” the woman explained further. “It is trying to absorb the light you have within you and become whole again, even if it meant destroying both of your bodies and minds. I would only imagine that this might be what this Phyco and Soliera is trying to do to you and Duo.” _

So, not only do they want Necrozma back together,  _ Heero thought, putting the pieces represented to him together.  _ They really don’t care if Duo or myself dies at their hands.  _ They hurt Duo and caused him to suffer. On the off-chance that he might encounter them again, he will kill them both for what they put him and Duo through. _

_ “If Necrozma’s soul has hungered for light,” Heero asked yet again, as he was having just as many questions as he got answers for them. “Then he would have started to feel those magnetic pulls from the instant we met; the same goes for me. Why would these be happening almost as soon as we arrived in Alola through the Ultra Wormhole?” _

_ For the first time, Heero had seen the woman look unsure. “I can only speculate that Necrozma’s soul has been sleeping within Duo for a very long time. The Ultra Wormhole--or rather, the impact of it--that had opened in your dimension might have woken it from its sleep, and started manifesting itself within him; the black crystals growing from inside of his body is one sign of that.” _

_ “If this is the case, then you would have been sleeping within me, too.” _

_ “...You are right. But, to a point.” _

_ The Wing Zero pilot knitted his dark brows together. “By what do you mean, ‘to a point?’” _

_ “Even before you were born, I was nothing. I was simply the light of Necrozma. Aside from my powers, I had no sense of self. As time went on, I had developed a consciousness, and eventually, my sense of self came to being. As a consequence, I have seen what you had witnessed , experienced what you have felt, and read what you have thought throughout the first fifteen years of your life. But all throughout, I have said nothing, did nothing; all I had allowed myself to do was to comfort you, soothe you through the most harsh moments of your short life. During, I also discovered that my power wanes and increases from the emotions you feel.” _

_ “It would explain my glowing and sparkling, then. I even have to hide myself from the enemy and Dr. J whenever it happens.” _

_ “...I do apologize for that.” _

_ “If you are Necrozma’s light and I am the reincarnation of it, then it might mean that you have been protecting me from my own darkness the entire time I have been alive.” _

_ The woman gently shook her head. “No. I never did that. You are the reason why you are now the way you are.” _

_ Heero looked taken aback. “I’m… the reason?” _

_ The woman nodded. “That’s right. And it’s not just you; your fellow Gundam pilots shaped you for the true you you are today. Including her.” _

“Her?” Does she mean…?

_ “Even though you are a soldier raised and trained to fight,” the woman continued. “Your moral convictions are pure and just. The people you have met, fought and made allies, and spent time together had helped to emphasize that. You have developed a pure heart, Heero. It was your pure heart that gives me and my power strength.” _

_ For the first time in this conversation, Heero was unsure of what to say. Actually, it would be safe to say that he was relieved that everything made sense to him. Admittedly, he was rather staggered from the fact that the woman in front of him is Necrozma’s light--of whom he is a reincarnation of--and that Duo is the reincarnation of Necrozma’s soul; those two things he has a hard time believing. Regardless, Heero felt like a huge weight on his shoulders have been lifted. The same would apply to everyone as soon as he tells them. _

_ The woman read the resolution in his cobalt blue eyes and the determination in his face. “Free Necrozma… and myself… Heero Yuy. Duo’s fate… and the fate of Alola… rests on your shoulders.” _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Malie Hospice, Ula’ula~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

Remilia felt cold while she was led by one of the nurses whom she asked to see Heero, as she had quickly bought a brand new set of clothes for him since his previous one was torn to shreds by Duo when he attacked him. Either that, or it might be the air conditioning blasting at near-freezing temperatures despite the fact that the morning weather is lukewarm in Alola, even if it’s cloudy. Granted, Remilia doesn’t even like hospitals all that much, but Heero’s in a hospital recovering from his injuries, so she has no other choice but to muscle her way through her discomfort and deliver the new clothes to him. That, and tell Heero that the other Gundam pilots told her the whole truth about who and what they are and how they actually got to Alola from their home dimension.

As soon as the nurse opened the door marked 201, Remilia walked in, her heart beating a little faster than she preferred. Her eyes fell upon the sleeping Wing Zero pilot before her, his chest the only place that the white bandages were wrapped around. The nurse had commented that Heero was healing a little faster than a normal human would and that he should wake up soon. Dread and anxiety washed over her as if she was drenched by ice-cold water dumped on her. If Heero gets discharged as soon as he gets better, it would be all over for him and the other Gundam pilots, and there is no way in hell that she could afford to pay for his bail, and there is no way in hell that she can persuade Gladion to pay for both Heero’s hospital bill  _ and _ pay his bail.

Remilia swallowed before taking a few steps towards him. She recalled the nurse telling her that the five puncture wounds in his chest are rather deep, the thumb dangerously close to piercing his heart. She thanked Arceus above for the fact that Heero didn’t die in a few seconds. She stared at the sleeping Wing Zero pilot before her, his chest slowly rising and falling, another indicator that the injury wasn’t lethal even with the blood loss (although Remilia assumed they were able to stop the bleeding before it got any worse). Remilia could have sworn that Heero looked scrawny underneath his tank top. Not that she’s about to complain or anything; actually, having the tank top removed from him actually makes him a little more ripped than he was wearing it. She could imagine Heero’s chest oh-so-deliciously chiseled and his six-pack starting to show, and Arceus almighty, them biceps.

The pink-haired Pokèmon Trainer shook her head hastily to rid herself of the lewd fujoshi thoughts gathering in her head. This is a very serious situation, she told herself repeatedly. And besides, Heero might wake up any minute so that she could give him the new clothes she got for him and take him back to Aether Paradise on the double, before Duo wakes up or Phyco and Soliera get to him before that, whichever comes first (and she didn’t dare to think which would, given the circumstances).

Remilia took a step closer to Heero, taking note of how his dark hair looked even more tousled when he was lying down. Her heart skipped a beat when Heero suddenly opened his cobalt eyes, trademark frown and all, and guided them towards Remilia.

“Oh, you’re awake, thank Arceus,” said Remilia, trying her best to act relieved.

Heero attempts to get himself up, wincing a little every time he makes a small movement. 

“Hey, hey!” Remilia chastised him as she dropped her bag of Heero’s new clothes and tried to press him down back onto the bed. “You shouldn’t move! Those puncture wounds are deep, you know!”

Despite her best efforts of laying him back down, Heero got up into a sitting position anyway, the white bedsheet falling off to his lap and crossing his legs underneath it… revealing a pair of juicy pink nipples. (Well, juicy from Remilia’s perspective, anyway.)

Remilia eyeballed at Heero’s nipples longer than she preferred.  _ Oooooh, Duo’s gonna be sucking on those pops all night, all day long. _

Heero, unbeknownst to her, notices this. “Where, exactly, are you staring at?”

Heero’s monotone brought Remilia’s fujoshi thoughts out of the gutter yet again, and she tensed her shoulders as she tried to hide her persistent blush. “Um…” she began to say. “N-nothing!” 

She quickly picked up the white paper bag with a yellow-and-blue Alolan Raichu logo on it. “H-here! Here’s the new clothes I bought for you in place of your old ones!”

Heero blinked once, appearing a little surprised (much to Remilia’s satisfaction).  _ She… got new clothes for me? _

“I actually had to guess your size, because you, well, no offense, but you looked a little scrawny in that tank top and bike shorts of yours,” Remilia began to ramble. “But then again, the other guys are kinda scrawny, Trowa and Quatre I don’t know about, but Trowa seems a bit more muscular than all of you judging from how tight his turtleneck is and--”

“Just give me the clothes,” Heero interrupted in a slightly gentle tone, which Remilia noticed was a little unusual. Normally, he would have just demanded her to just do it, like he did with her regarding her Pokèmon back on Paniola Ranch.

To Heero’s relief, Remilia stopped her rambling, and dug around the paper bag for the new clothes. 

“Okay,” she said awhile. “Like with your size, I also had to guess your choice of style, because… um…”

Remilia quickly pulled out a white t-shirt with blue and black splatters on it with a white silhouette of Mega Absol, a staticky grey zip-up hoodie and light-blue denim skinny jeans. “I got these from the Malie apparel shop. I just took a bus ride to the Malie Community Center and made the rest of the way to here on foot.”

Heero stared at the articles of clothing Remilia held up for him.

“Well, are you going to wear those or not?” asked Remilia, trying to be gentle while she’s still on the edge. “And besides, I’m pretty sure you still have your socks and shoes. Although I would think your shoes would clash a little against the Mega Absol tank…”

“Just give me the clothes,” Heero said again as he eased himself to sit on the edge of the hospital bed.

Remilia put the new clothes on the bed so that Heero can put them on. Awhile, she got down on her hands and knees to look for his socks and gold sneakers under the bed. Much to her relief, she found them both, the white socks stuffed into them (although she winced a little when she accidentally took a small whiff of them). She quickly got up and placed them near Heero’s feet while the latter put the Mega Absol t-shirt on. “I went to the Malie Library to cut the tags off, don’t worry.”

Heero said nothing as he put his socks on, then the jeans (which thankfully fits), his gold shoes, and finally the gray zip-up hoodie. Slowly, he stood himself up, but nearly lost his balance had it not for Remilia getting to him on time.

“So…” Remilia began. “Any idea on how we’re going to get out of here without the police knowing? Because the last thing I wanna do is get into trouble and possibly have my Champion status stripped from me.”

“Every hospital has an emergency area,” Heero began explaining his plan to her. “Wherever there’s an emergency area, there’s the bay doors for ambulances and paramedics.”

It took a couple seconds for Remilia to understand where Heero is going with this. “So you’re saying we should get through to the emergency bay doors to get out of here? But what if the police are there? They could arrest us and throw us in jail if they see us!”

“The nurse who took care of me won’t be back to check on me for another while,” Heero assured. “Trust me. And follow my instructions carefully awhile. Understand?”

Remilia swallowed, unsure. But she nodded yes regardless because she needs to get Heero back to Aether Paradise as soon as possible purely for Duo’s sake. She also needs to tell Heero of what the other Gundam pilots revealed to her and that she now knows of what their true situation is as well as its true nature.

She helped Heero make his way to the door as the latter opened it slowly. He looked left and right to see if there are any nurses or doctors coming from either direction, and when the coast is clear, they both snuck out of the room and made their way to the elevator without being seen. They went to the ground floor of the hospital--where the emergency area is and they were able to sneak out through the emergency bay doors and outside without even being seen by anybody.

Even though they were able to make it outside without any further problems, Remilia’s heart is still racing. She still can’t believe that Heero was able to pull it off in escaping his confines, let alone going along for the ride.

“Let’s get back to Aether Paradise,” said Remilia as she took out her Ride Pager to summon Flygon.

“Good,” Heero replied. “I have several things to tell the others about, anyway.”

Remilia looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll say more once we get there.”

“... All right.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Aether Paradise*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Everything, including the ocean waves, is quiet. The now-brightened but hazy gray sky gave everyone on the white deck of the Aether Foundation a sense of repression… but it was countered with anticipation of what might happen next. 

Heero and Remilia went back to Aether Paradise with her ride Flygon, which took a little slower than last time. Along the way, Remilia confessed to Heero that the Gundam pilots told her everything as soon as they saw her with his Gundam start key. She also told them that they went from their home dimension and timeline to the Pokèmon world via the Ultra Wormhole, which would explain the bright blue light all of them saw prior, and that she has a plan to get them reunited with their respective Gundams and get them back home. Heero was initially skeptical that she would have a plan as elaborate as this, but Remilia stated that before leaving Aether Paradise to retrieve him from the hospital on Ula’ula, she picked up a Pokèmon from her storage PC that has the power to create and travel through Ultra Wormholes, further saying that she’ll explain more as soon as they get back to Aether Paradise. (And she also said that she’s contacted Hau to retrieve Plumeria and Guzma and bring them to Aether Paradise and told one of the Aether employees to have Gladion present for her plan.)

Soon, everybody--including Gladion, Hau, Guzma and Plumeria--gathered at the Aether Paradise docking area so they can hear Remilia’s plan (after she had told four of them everything about the Gundam pilots; Hau thought it was pretty amazing that there are multiple realities and dimensions beyond the Ultra Wormhole, Gladion looked surprised that there are more dimensions than Ultra Space beyond the Ultra Wormhole, and Guzma and Plumeria looked and felt the same, with a hint of curiosity). Remilia also made it clear that she hasn’t forgotten about saving Duo as well. Heero also told the group about the true nature of Duo’s transformation and the fact that both of them are reincarnated with the soul and the light of a mysterious entity called Necrozma, who came from a place called Ultra Megalopolis, presumably in Ultra Space. He said that the light spoke to him while he was resting from Duo’s vicious attack, further stating that he was possessed by Necrozma’s soul--fully explaining the black crystals on his body--and that it was Necrozma, not Duo, that hungers for the light that’s inside of Heero. Guzma, Gladion and Plumeria were skeptical about this, but Quatre stated that he always felt something off about them, Duo especially, and that he wasn’t able to put a finger on it prior to this. It would further explain most of Phyco and Soliera’s motivations as well.

“So the plan is as follows,” Remilia had said to them earlier. “We’re gonna use Heero here as bait so we can lure Duo to Poni Island, which is where the Altar of Light is. There, we’ll use the Legendary Pokèmon’s power to bring Duo back to his senses, even if it’s only temporary, and then she’ll open up an Ultra Wormhole to get those guys’ Gundams and bring them back to their home dimension. Heero will be the frontmost on our ride Pokèmon so that the distance between him and Duo will be great enough for him to not attack.”

Everybody listened to her plan intently, unsure if they would be able to pull it off, the Gundam pilots especially. Remilia said “temporary” in regards to restoring Duo to normal, meaning it won’t even last. They were more worried about his and Heero’s well-being than they are getting home. But the “distance between Duo and Heero being great enough…” Heero, Quatre and Trowa thinks that there is some logic to that, even if they do get home. The greater the distance between the two, the less likely that Necrozma’s soul would take control of Duo yet again.

After they all agreed to Remilia’s plan, despite some uncertainties, the whole group gathered at the front railing of Aether Paradise with their ride Pokèmon--Gladion, Wufei and Quatre on a bird-like, cloud-winged Pokèmon called Altaria, Gladion’s ride Pokèmon; Heero, Trowa and Guzma on the orange blue-winged Pokèmon called Charizard, who is Hau’s ride Pokèmon; and finally, Hau, Plumeria and Remilia on Flygon. Altaria is perched on the white railing despite the combined weight of its riders, grooming its fluffy cloud-like feathers (to Wufei’s protest). The other flying Pokèmon are nonetheless just as prepared as their riders.

“So,” Gladion became the first to break the dead silence. “When, exactly, should we start going to Poni Island?”

“Heero said he can ‘sense’ Necrozma’s soul sleeping within Duo beforehand,” Remilia replied. “In this case, Duo’s unconscious, meaning Necrozma might be, too.”

“So in other words,” Trowa theorized. “Heero can sense when Necrozma will wake up once again as soon as Duo does.”

“And as soon as they do,” said Remilia. “We’re high-tailing the hell all the way to the Altar of Light.”

“It doesn’t really help anything, though,” Wufei spoke up. 

“Heero, what are you feeling right now?” Quatre asked his friend. “Can you sense Necrozma’s soul?”

“I don’t, actually,” Heero responded with clarification from the plan they discussed earlier. “Hikari can, though. And when she does, we’ll be ready for them both.”

“‘Hikari?’” Plumeria asked. “That’s the name you gave to this Necrozma’s light?”

“I did say that Hikari only appeared to me as a young woman,” Heero replied to her as-matter-of-factly. 

Wufei made a “pfff” sound.

“We all believe you when you said you’re the reincarnation of Necrozma’s light earlier,” said Quatre. “But why would Necrozma’s light appear to you as a young woman?”

“Maybe this Necrozma is a goddess of light?” asked Hau in speculation.

“Necrozma was referred to as the Blinding One to these Ultra Megalopians,” Trowa replied to him. “It could be of any gender, really.”

“Which depends on perception, I might add,” Wufei said.

“So you’re saying that the young woman Heero was seeing is what he perceives her? Um, it? Er, whatever?” Hau asked Wufei.

“I think we’re all better off speculating about that later,” Quatre said to the two of them. “Necrozma could awaken at any second and we need to be prepared when the time comes. Heero?”

Heero gripped on the handle bars a little harder and closed his eyes in concentration. He decided to let Hikari--the nickname he gave to Necrozma’s light--do the work, as it can sense when Necrozma’s soul becomes active again. He also knows that Hikari can communicate with him in his mind, as it has all access to his own thoughts and feelings. With this being the case, then he can open his thoughts to it.

_ “Hikari,”  _ Heero called out to it mentally.  _ “Has Necrozma started to wake yet?” _

There were two seconds of mental silence until he felt a jolt, almost like he was stabbed in the chest (which made the stitches where the puncture wounds are throb in pain). 

Heero immediately opened his eyes in reaction as soon as he felt it courtesy of Hikari. “Now!”

♫♩*~Enormous Ambition - Mobile Fighter G Gundam~*♫♩

All the flying ride Pokèmon immediately flapped their wings and took off from Aether Paradise. Behind them, the noise of someone or something smashing their way through the facility through several ceilings and finally, the rooftop.

Duo, now looking more feral than he once was with his long brown hair unwoven from his signature braid and flowing wildly and glowing rainbow eyes completely eclipsing his natural indigo eyes, let out a roar that sounded like a combination of a wild beast and an alien monster. He sniffed the air a few times before flapping his rainbow light, black crystal wings aggressively and flew towards the ride Altaria, Charizard and Flygon at near-blinding speed. Necrozma only got a little bit of the light within Heero when he was attacked by a Ghost-type Pokèmon. It wants more so that it could be whole again.

Quatre looked behind and tried to focus the best he could with his functioning visible eye on the familiar figure racing behind towards the rest of the group. “He’s gaining on us!”

“We should be almost there to Poni Island!” Remilia shouted at him. “Do you people in the front see anything?”

“No!” Guzma shouted back.

“I think I see a small speck!” Trowa yelled in response.

“That’s gotta be Poni!” Remilia shouted at Trowa. “So we’re in the right direction!”

“But we’re still a long way’s away from the Altar of Light,” Plumeria shouted.

“Just keep going!”

Remilia suddenly screamed and flinched as a blue-and-purple beam was shot at her, Hau and Plumeria, but it fortunately missed them.

“What the hell was that?!” Gladion shouted.

Remilia looked behind them to see that Duo was getting closer to them, blasting beams of purple-blue light at them.

Guzma did the same and shouted, “He’s using Dragon Pulse!”

“Really?!” Remilia answered. “Well, three can play at that game! Hau, get Noivern out! Duo’s starting to attack us!”

“Huh?!” Hau responded. “Uh, okay!”

He reached into the pocket of his orange shorts and without throwing his Pokè Ball in the air, he lets out a black bat-like creature known as a Noivern. Remilia did the same and Shayde went onto the Noivern’s back. 

“If it’s a Dragon-type move, then we’ll respond with Dragon-type moves!” Remilia exclaimed.

“Is this Salazzle of yours a Dragon-type?” Wufei yelled to her.

“She’s Poison/Fire, ding-dong, not Dragon,” Remilia shouted back with a look on her face.

“It was a reasonable assumption!”

“Now’s not the time to argue, you guys!” Quatre interrupted. “Duo’s closing in on us as we speak!”

“Right! You heard the man, Hau!” Remilia said to her friend.   
  


“Okay!” Hau responded. “Noivern!”

“Shayde!”

“Dragon Pulse!”

Both Hau’s Noivern and Shayde opened their mouths as bright indigo-colored energy filled them, then lets out a blast of purple and blue energy at Duo.

Duo tried to dodge it, but the blast of draconic energy grazed his shoulder, which caused him to scream in pain and falter as he started to fall to the ocean.

“There!” said Remilia. “It should be able to slow him down by a longshot so that we could get to the Altar of Light on Poni.”

“I see Poni Island!” Guzma shouted at the group. “Dead ahead!”

Remilia looked from behind Hau and Plumeria to get a better look at the island they and the rest of the group were closing in on. Poni now seems a little closer than it once was.

“There it is!” she said. “Just a little farther to there and a little more farther towards the Altar of Light! We’ll have to pass by the Vast Poni Canyon in order to go there!”

“The ride Pokèmon won’t be fast enough to elude Duo as soon as we get to the canyon!” Quatre shouted at Remilia.

“Then we’ll just have to use Shayde and Noivern’s Dragon Pulse at Duo a few more times until then! All we have to do is try!”

“She’s right,” Heero yelled among the group. “Remilia’s plan is likely to work.”

“Do  _ you _ really think so?” Wufei asked the Wing Zero pilot skeptically.

“The only thing we can do now is trust her, Wufei.”

Everybody in the group fell silent and didn’t say anything for the duration of the high-speed race to Poni Island, save for Remilia and Hau shouting at Shayde and Noivern to used Dragon Pulse on Duo every time he gets closer to them, which only happened a couple more times. Awhile, Remilia vaguely noticed it, but she saw a small blue and purple dot that seems to be coming after them all, including Duo. She only commanded Shayde to use Flamethrower at the dot as a small precaution and hopefully, get said dot out of the chase, as she had a rather good idea of what the dot might be.

Upon finally arriving on Poni Island, the group flew over the Seafolk Village, causing a few boathouses to rock slightly from the speed of the flying ride Pokèmon and Duo chasing after them. They then flew over the Poni Wilds and finally, towards the Vast Poni Canyon. Upon going there, they could feel that the flying ride Pokèmon are slowing down slightly, their wings, flight speed and endurance almost put against their limits. Remilia had to smack at the base of her ride Flygon’s tail to give it a light speed boost and urged the others to do the same with the ride Charizard and ride Altaria, which worked as well for the other two.

After a while, Trowa yelled to the group, “I’m seeing a lot of little gray creatures running around.”

“‘Little gray creatures?’” Remilia repeated. “Those are Jangmo-o. They’re native to Poni Island, particularly the Vast Poni Canyon. That means we’re a little closer to the Altar of Light!”

“And we’d better make it quick or else Duo here will fry us alive!” Wufei shouted at the group.

“My sentiments exactly!” shouted Guzma in agreement.

“Just a little farther!” Remilia shouted at the group. “You should be seeing a giant mountain carving of the sun and moon eclipsing each other!”

“I think I see it!” Gladion shouted.

“Awesome! Let’s land on the largest platform on the Altar!”

After several more minutes, the group landed the flying ride Pokèmon on the platform whose symbol is the same as the carving in the mountain and quickly summoned the ride Pokèmon back into the balls of their Ride Pagers.

“Remilia!” Gladion called at her. “It’s now or never!”

“Right!” The pink-haired Pokèmon Trainer opened up her fanny pack and took out a unique-looking Pokè Ball that has a purple top half with two pink ellipsing bumps on either side with a white letter “M” on the front. 

Swallowing away whatever fear she had within her and with newfound confidence, she kissed the top of the Pokè Ball and threw it up in the air. “Lunala! I choose you!”

The purple Pokè Ball released a bright pink and purple light as it opened, taking the form of a large silhouette of a bat. The bat flapped its wings and let out a jingling cry as the pink and purple light dissipated, revealing itself to be a navy blue skeletal legless bat with glowing red eyes and gold decorations on its wings and torso. The bat’s body sparkles as if it was taken out of a starry night sky.

“Nebby!” Remilia said to the bat-like Pokèmon she was referring by its nickname. “Use what you did to Lusamine to restore Duo to normal!”

Lunala complied and positioned its wings so that it would look more circular, and its body changed to a bright blue glow as a glowing eye-like marking appeared on its glass-like starry night sky head, as it started to emit bright blue sonic-like waves at Duo.

But before anything can happen, Duo started to physically attack Lunala, and Lunala tried to get out of the way. The two of them then took to the cloudy sky at started to fight each other. At a small distance, they look like comets attacking each other; Duo was cloaked in distorted rainbow light while Lunala’s light was smoother and more graceful.

“What the hell is going on here?!” Wufei shouted.

“I don’t know!” Remilia responded. “I’m sure Duo was at a great distance when I got Lunala out! It’s almost as if he got a speed boost just from looking at her for only half a second!”

“Hit the deck!” Guzma shouted as the two lights plunged to the platform he, Plumeria and the group were on.

No sooner than when Guzma yelled at them that they dropped to the ground and covered themselves with their arms for their own protection. A cloud of dust as large as the platform was created as soon as Lunala and Duo went to the ground in blinding speed.

Remilia got onto her hands and knees from the ground and coughed a couple times to get the dust out of her lungs. She then let out a large gasp as she looked on in shock and great fear at the scene before her and everyone else who had just recovered from the impact. Duo was on top of Lunala, who as in physical pain from the blow and impact of the landing, and bright light began to envelop them both.

Everyone shielded their eyes with their arms to prevent being blinded. “NEBBY!!” Remilia screamed.

The blinding light quickly dimmed and ceased to be and everyone put their arms down as soon as it was safe to see. But as soon as they did, they all internally regretted it.

Lunala didn’t look much like Lunala anymore. It instead was glowing an eerie shade of blue and covered in large black crystals similar to the crystals that grew from Duo’s skin. One covered Lunala’s head and upper face like a mask with glowing red eyes and a rainbow marking, smaller crystals clamped on the once-golden curves of its wings and “tail,” and a bigger crystal enveloped around the base of its “tail” and pointing upward towards its ribcage. Within the crystal rests Duo, his unwoven hair and now-naked body completely white with his eyes closed and his arms wrapped around his bent knees in a fetal position.

Remilia wanted to scream in horror at the sight of the state Lunala is in, but it was stuck in her throat. The rest of the group looked both horrified and shocked at the same time at what they had just witnessed. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that they don’t even  _ know  _ what they had just witnessed, let alone what had  _ resulted  _ from that! 

“N… Nebby...?” said Remilia in a small, terrified voice.

“I…” Hau started to say. “Am shooketh.”

“Duo’s…” said Quatre in a frightened voice. “In that crystal…”

“Well, let’s beat that thing down so that it gets back to its senses!” Guzma proclaimed as he takes out one of his Ultra Balls.

“B… but,” Remilia stuttered.

“For once, I’m agreeing with Guzma on that one,” said Plumeria as she brought out one of hers as well.

“But…”

“Come on, Remilia,” said Gladion as he took out his Pokè Ball and Hau did the same. “We don’t need you standing there like a scared idiot. You said you’re gonna help Duo and the other Gundam pilots; now do your job!”

♫♩*~Battle! ~ Deoxys - Pokèmon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire~*♫♩

Remilia swallowed in uncertainty, but if she doesn’t do something soon, then Lunala might go on a rampage while still being possessed by Necrozma. But… Duo’s in that crystal, and she doesn’t want to hurt Lunala…

Fighting back any tears that might form in her eyes, Remilia opened up her Gorebyss fanny pack and took out a Dusk Ball. “Let’s go, Zero!” 

She then threw her Dusk Ball up in the air which released a purple-and-black light that took the form of a quadruped Pokèmon that appears dog-like and has white fluffy fur, a midnight blue feline face with cat-like red eyes, a scythe-shaped horn on its left side and claws and curved, pointed tail of the same color; the Absol named Zero Remilia talked about previously. Hau, Gladion, Guzma and Plumeria sent out their respective Pokèmon: Hau released his Tauros, Gladion his Silvally, Plumeria her Gengar and Guzma his Golisopod.

“You guys stand back and take cover!” Remilia told the other Gundam pilots. “We’ll handle this!”

“But what about Duo?” Quatre asked pleadingly.

“We’ll find a way to save him! Just have faith in us!”

Quatre felt tempted to sob from her response. It’s all their fault they underestimated Necrozma’s speed while he took possession of Duo’s body, and he knows it. The last thing he wants is to have Duo killed in the process, especially since their small miscalculation resulted in the plan derailing big time. Remilia’s words of finding a way to save Duo from the current state he’s in keeps echoing in Quatre’s mind. He’s trapped in a black crystal, getting him out of there would be extremely difficult. And it’s not just that; Lunala is now possessed by Necrozma so taking it (or her, as Remilia refers to?) down would be downright  _ impossible _ to do. He’s not so sure if he should put his faith in Remilia and the other Pokèmon Trainers given the current circumstances.

The battle between the Necrozma-possessed Lunala and the five Pokèmon Trainers is a lot tougher than they or the Gundam pilots had anticipated. With Necrozma taking possession of Lunala’s power and body, it just took whatever attacks their Pokèmon dished out. On the other hand, Necrozma seemed to react rather badly to the Dark-type moves inflicted upon it by Zero the Absol (especially with his ability Super Luck), Plumeria’s Gengar, Hau’s Tauros and Gladion’s Silvally. But then again, Necrozma is possessing a Legendary Pokèmon, which is powerful by default, and even more powerful in the present circumstances; it would be safe to say that it is more than a match than five lowly Pokèmon from five Trainers. Whatever damage it took, Necrozma responded with powerful attacks Lunala already has, such as Moonblast and Lunala’s signature move, Moongeist Beam. Even though the Pokèmon were able to dodge those moves, they were already causing damage to the Altar of Light and especially the Vast Poni Canyon at a distance. 

Gladion flinched as he covered himself from the impact of Necrozma using Moonblast yet again. “This already getting fucking tedious!”

“I’m open to some suggestions!” Remilia yelled at him back as she used a Hyper Potion on Zero.

“This thing seems to react badly to Dark-type moves,” said Plumeria.

“Do you think a Dark-type Z-Move would work?!” Guzma yelled at them.

“There’s only one way to find out!” Remilia replied. As soon as she did, she suddenly wondered why she ever said that. Even if she does a Dark-type Z-Move, Lunala and Duo would be beyond rescue. A small part of her thought that maybe if she does this, then Lunala would gain some of its free will back and defuse from Necrozma and hopefully free Duo from its possession as well. But the realistic part of her said that it’s very,  _ very _ unlikely that will happen.

Despite her brain screaming at her that the Z-Move will not save Lunala and Duo from Necrozma, she switched the Fairium Z and Darkinium Z’s places and the Darkinium Z briefly glowed a dried blood red upon being placed in the indent of her Z-Ring.

Remilia did the pre-Z-Move movements like she did at the Battle Royal Dome. “Z-Power!” She called out. The, she does a different sequence of moves, which consisted of spreading her legs a little farther and threw her upper torso down and her arms bent and fingers spread and curled like claws, shimmied her shoulders as she bent herself upright again and bent her hips and torso forwards, arms raised. “Black Hole Eclipse!”

The blood-red aura emanating from the Darkinium Z transferred itself towards Zero and cloaking it around him. A black sphere surrounded by dark purple and blood red energy starts to form above his head grows larger and larger, forming a black hole. Zero jumped up and strikes at the sphere with his scythe-horn, pummeling it towards Necrozma and it envelops it instead of sucking it in. 

The black hole starts to grow smaller and smaller, but a warbled roar suddenly sounds from it. Spots of white light started to appear in the black sphere and they grow bigger and bigger until the sphere explodes, creating a great shockwave that spreads from the Altar of Light and to the Vast Poni Canyon, chipping away small chunks of rock and damaging the sun and moon markers. Any Pokèmon that heard the blast immediately ran away from the area, some of them being blown away from said shockwave.

All five Pokèmon Trainers were knocked back down to the ground from the powerful shock of the failed Dark-type Z-Move, and the four Gundam pilots that were watching the battle took cover on one side of the stone platform of the Altar to protect themselves from it. 

♫♩*~Solaris Awakens - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006~*♫♩

As soon as the shockwave ceased, Remilia shakily gets herself back on her feet, her Absol doing the same. She then noticed that Necrozma is behaving strangely, the bright blue glow from Lunala becoming slightly dimmer. Necrozma let out another warbled roar and glowed harshly, creating small streams of blue light all over the place on the Altar. The streams disappeared after they reached a certain distance and exploded, creating slits of white-blue light which then formed into rippling portals with flowing cracks circling all around them.

“Oh, come on!” Guzma exclaimed as this is happening. “What now?!”

“It just up and created an uku billion Ultra Wormholes!” Hau shouted at him in response.

The Gundam pilots looked up into the now-darkening cloudy sky during the commotion.

“Is that the Ultra Wormhole Remilia was talking about?” Quatre asked.

“There’s no mistake, it’s definitely an Ultra Wormhole that brought us to this world!” Wufei responded.

“And it’s not just one,” said Trowa. “There’s a great many of them; twelve, maybe even more.”

This is bad, this is really, really bad, Remilia mentally circulated through her head as she returned Zero to his Dusk Ball. With this many wormholes opened at once, Arceus knows what would come out of them; it could be Ultra Beasts or something or someone pulled through into them or out of them. Either way, Alola and the entire Pokèmon and human populace will be screwed with the direction this is going.

Just then, Necrozma started to sink into a black-and-purple void that had recently formed underneath it, taking Lunala and Duo with it. Remilia sees this and ran towards it, arm reached out. “No! Nebby!!”

She was suddenly grabbed by her other arm by Gladion, which prevented her from running towards Necrozma. “Don’t! You’ll get sucked in!”

Remilia wanted to struggle against it, but can’t, either due to Gladion’s firm grip on her upper arm or because a wave of hopelessness, defeat and sorrow enveloped her like a cold blanket as she continues to see Necrozma sink deeper and deeper into the void until disappearing completely, the void closing hereafter.

♫♩*~Relic Song (MAK_Neko remix) - Pokèmon Black 2 and White 2~*♫♩

She suddenly felt her knees went weak and sensing that Gladion loosened his grip on her a little, she fell on them, fresh tears streaming down her face as she started to cry. “No…”

The four Gundam pilots climbed back up the stone platform and witnessed the new scene before them. All five of the Pokèmon Trainers were utterly defeated by Necrozma and it shows from their body language and facial expressions. Hau looked genuinely depressed with a hint of disbelief, Plumeria in near-total disbelief, Guzma looks shocked and angry at what had just happened and punched the ground in his anger, Gladion’s face and posture spoke the same as Plumeria with the addition of anguish, and Remilia… It’s not just what these Pokèmon Trainers were feeling; they looked up to the sky. The Ultra Wormholes are gone, which relieved the pilots, but the sky is now near-pitch-black and everything they see within a certain radius in enveloped in darkness. There’s also a swirling black and purple void above the Altar of Light; the same void that Heero had seen in Ultra Megalopolis in his coma dream.

Remilia quietly sobbed in her hands, overwhelmed with the sadness and guilt of losing Lunala and Duo and being unable to save them both. She fought her hardest with her Pokèmon and in the end, she just turned out to be too weak to defeat it, even with the help of her friends. It wasn’t just the guilt of losing Lunala; before Lillie left for Kanto, she entrusted Lunala to Remilia’s care, and she promised that she would. And now, considering what had just happened, she failed her promise to Lillie.

_ I’m so sorry, _ she thought miserably.  _ I couldn’t save you… I tried so hard… I really did…  _

The four Gundam pilots looked at Remilia crying over the loss of Lunala and Duo. As strange as it is to them that Remilia would be crying over a Legendary Pokèmon, they all can’t help but feel sorry for her and saddened over the loss of their fellow Gundam pilot. Heero was at a loss at what to think or feel, Trowa looked depressed at what had just transpired, Quatre was wiping away tears from his visible eye with his pink shirt sleeve, and Wufei felt angry at himself, his fellow Gundam pilots, and the five Pokèmon Trainers for being so weak, and he’s pretty sure that Remilia feels the same thing, that even she would acknowledge it, given her current state.

“Hey, guys, look,” Hau called out to all of the group, bringing them out of their anguished and depressed trances.

Everybody looked at Hau and then saw, with surprise, a white-blue rippling vertical slit a couple meters above the stone platform. Remilia slowly brought her head up, eyes red and puffy from crying and just sat, losing her ability to move any more than that.

“An… Ultra Wormhole?” Quatre said as soon as he found his voice.

“Seriously?” said Guzma, in complete shock. “After all that happened just now, Arceus decided to up and play nice for us out of pity? Am I the only one not buying this?”

“Well, to be honest, Guzma, I’m not really believing what I’m seeing, either,” Plumeria answered to him. “But it’s right here, right in front of us all, before our eyes.”

“I wish I could say I’m surprised,” said Trowa. “With all the Ultra Wormholes suddenly opening and closing again and Necrozma disappearing into… whatever that was, it’s not all that much of a shock that this one would appear, presumably from the dimensional distortion.”

“And what makes  _ you _ the expert, huh?” Guzma challenged.

“Remember,” Gladion tries to cool Guzma down. “Ultra Wormholes can lead to different dimensions and realities. The Gundam pilots are no exception. And besides, either myself, Wicke, Faba and I would have said the same thing Trowa had said even though it’s pure speculation on our parts.”

“So, if we go through this Ultra Wormhole,” Wufei began to inquire. “We could go to an alternate dimension or reality?”   
  


“Or it could lead us into Ultra Space, where the Ultra Beasts reside in.”

“Wait.” Everyone except for Remilia turned their attention to Quatre. “Remilia said we can use the Ultra Wormholes to get our Gundams and go back home. We can use this one to rescue Duo and Lunala.”

“Yeah, but as with Ultra Wormholes go, there’s no telling where we’ll end up,” Plumeria said. “Even if we all go as one entire group, there’s a ninety-nine percent chance that we’ll get separated from each other.”

“That’s a gamble we’re willing to take if we’re going to save Lunala and Duo and help these guys get back home,” Hau reasoned with her. “And besides, their Gundams are beyond the Ultra Wormhole, so getting them should be no problem!”

Everybody else thought for a moment as they began to take Hau’s words into consideration. “Hau does have a reasonable point,” said Wufei.

“What do you think, Heero? Remilia?” Quatre asked them both.

Heero didn’t say anything, but he turned his head at Remilia, totally still save for a couple more tears running down her flushed face. He walked towards her and kneeled down in front of her, and using his two fingers, he gently lifted Remilia’s chin up slightly so that she can face her.

A small shockwave ran through Remilia’s body as Heero did that. Suddenly finding herself back in reality, she stared at the cobalt eyes that stared even deeper into her. Compared to the previous times she’d seen them, Heero’s eyes looked… gentle; not as hardened or icy as they had in the past. Not only that, but his features have softened slightly as well.

“We will save Duo and Lunala,” Heero said to her quietly.

A small but sudden spark of hope ignited within the pink-haired girl as soon as Heero’s words hit her like someone threw a towel at her face. Another tear came out of her eye, but Heero used his index finger to wipe it away. He then moved his hand away from her and turned it palm up as a gesture to help her get herself back up on her feet. 

Confused by Heero’s newfound gentleness and sympathy, Remilia took his offer and slowly placed her hand on his, briefly noticing that her hand looked tiny compared to his, and Heero helped her stand up, making her rediscover the strength of her legs.

The Wing Zero pilot let go of her hand and told the group, “We’ll have to go through the Ultra Wormhole and rescue Duo and Lunala. The wormhole appears small, so only a few people at a time can enter through it. For now, looking for our Gundams will be our top priority. Once we all retrieve them, we will have to travel through the Ultra Wormhole again and extract Duo and Lunala from wherever they might be, whether it’s Ultra Space or somewhere else.”

Everyone listened to Heero’s plan of action intently and nodded and murmured to themselves. They all came to an agreement that the only way to rescue Duo and Lunala is to go through the Ultra Wormhole, and to be able to do the rescue mission, they would need their Gundams.

Plumeria, Guzma and Wufei became the first group to walk towards the Ultra Wormhole and disappeared within the white-blue void. Hau and Trowa followed, with Quatre and Gladion going in next. 

Heero turned to Remilia, who seems to have recovered a little, and asked her, “Are you ready?”

Remilia swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. This isn’t the first time I’ve been through the Ultra Wormhole and into Ultra Space, so maybe I could be of some help to you.”

“Hn,” was Heero’s reply as he nodded once.

The two of them walked towards the Ultra Wormhole, the warbled rippling noise growing louder the closer they get to it. However, Remilia had noticed a flash of blood red on the stone platform. Did she drop her Darkinium Z? Curious at what this strange-looking object is, she ran towards it and picked it up. To her relief, it’s not her Darkinium Z; in fact, it looks larger than a Z-Crystal and it’s black with crimson highlights depending on the angle looked at, and it has no symbol compared to the other Z-Crystals.

“Remilia,” Heero had called out to her. “Are you coming?”

Remilia swiftly put the large Z-Crystal in her shoulder bag. “Yeah, I am, I’m coming, Heero.” She ran back to where Heero is standing close to the Ultra Wormhole and stood right next to him, staring at the white-blue void. Feeling the slight tug of the gravitational pull, Remilia took in a shaky breath and let it out, and together with Heero, she stepped into the white-blue void of the wormhole and disappeared into it, the wormhole closing as soon as they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell of a ride there, huh? 
> 
> I have a ref sheet of Hikari on my DeviantART; all you have to do is to go to my profile and follow the link! I also have a ref sheet of Remilia, too, so be sure to check it out!
> 
> Also, take a listen to Relic Song by a YouTube user named MAK_Neko. It's so freaking beautiful, hence why I use it sometimes in my fanfiction playlists.


	14. Tears of Glass ~ Ultra Deep Sea

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ultra Deep Sea~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~Ultra Deep Sea - Pokèmon Ultra Sun and Moon~*♫♩

Both Heero and Remilia jumped out of the white-blue Ultra Wormhole, and into a mysterious black cavern. Heero looked around this new place, wondering if this is a part of Ultra Space Remilia was talking about previously. Everything is pitch-black save for the glowing rocks that slowly changes color, and the sky--if it could be called as such--is a completely black void, save for small streams of glittering sparkles that appear here and there. He walked towards a black bulbous stalagmite closest to his left. Every last one he sees are color-changing rocks. But, upon closer inspection of this one, he theorized that these rocks might be jagged gemstones. 

In addition to the area, the air in this place is a little thick, as if Heero was trapped in a very hot room with no windows or air conditioning. However, it’s not all that surprising to him, as Ultra Space is basically just an alien world with alien-looking creatures roaming around.

“This is the Ultra Deep Sea,” Remilia began explaining, which caught Heero’s attention. “Home of the Nihilego.”

Heero walked back towards her. “The Ultra Deep Sea”

“Yeah,” Remilia replied. “I actually came up with the term myself, because the bulbed mushroom-like stalagmites reminded me of deep-ocean corals I saw in nature books. Well, that, and the gravity in this place is a little lower than in our world, but you can’t actually ‘swim’ in this place. It’s like walking on the moon.”

“So these Nihilego… they reside here?”

“Yeah. I’ve made an Ultra Beast Database for them while I was mapping out this place.”

Remilia opened up her white ruffled shoulder bag and out pops her Rotom Dex, like usual. (Though to be honest, Heero’s not even fazed anymore.) “Set your pazzzword to your current one, zzzt!” it exclaims happily.

“Right, thanks, Rotom.” Remilia took hold of Rotom. As she did, its mouth screen changed to the Pokèdex menu and tapped on the green folder icon labeled “UB Database.” She then input the password and another Pokèdex screen similar to the previous, except that it’s green, came up.

His curiosity piqued, Heero looked over the data of one of the Ultra Beasts named Nihilego. A picture came up next to the text data that explains it’s typing, place of origin and other information about this Ultra Beast. The picture of Nihilego looks like a white jellyfish from Heero and the other pilots’ world, except that it has tentacle-like appendages, some parts of its white body fade into transparency, and it looks like it has a transparent hat with white stars surrounding the base and a light blue ruffled rim.

“Nihilego, codename UB-01: Symbiont,” Remilia read aloud from the database. “Parasite Pokèmon, Rock/Poison-type. Nihilego is a parasitic Pokèmon that secretes a neurotoxin that alters the thoughts and actions of whatever host--human or Pokèmon--it latches onto. This neurotoxin also erodes the host’s inhibitions over time while invoking intense feelings of excitement, thus leading the host to gradually become aggressive and violent with the addition of increasing any skill or talent the host has while their mind weakens. 

“While the material of Nihilego’s physical structure is not known, its body is theorized to be like glass. Nihilego can also change forms, the most commonly seen is that of a young girl. It is theorized that Nihilego can reshape its structure based on its instincts, likely self-preservation, as its intelligence levels are yet to be observed.”

Heero listened to Remilia’s reading of the database intently, and naturally, thanks to his soldier training, mentally stored the information inside his head. It did amaze him a little bit that although they are Ultra Beasts, they’re all still technically Pokèmon as they can be typed and categorized like the actual Pokèmon back in Remilia’s world. He also remembered Remilia saying that she loves Pokèmon more than anything, and her love extends to the Ultra Beasts as well. When he first met her, he didn’t have much of an opinion on her, only seeing her as an important asset to his mission of getting himself home. Perhaps now would be a good time to change what he feels about her…

Remilia quickly exited out of the Ultra Beast Pokèdex and opened up a map which is presumably the Ultra Deep Sea. It took her a few seconds to get their actual location marked on the map, thanks to Wicke and Faba’s efforts to give Rotom some additional features to gather more data on the Ultra Beasts and their habitats and ecologies for the “Aether Foundation Ultra Beast Research Branch,” as she so affectionately called it (as much as she’s having a hard time trusting Faba again no thanks to the little “incident” Lusamine the bitch queen caused a few weeks ago).

“This is where we are right here,” the pink-haired Trainer said as she pointed the blue dot on the map of the Ultra Deep Sea. “Now, I haven’t actually mapped the entirety of this place yet because the atmosphere here a little thicker than back home, but we should be able to find your Gundam here if we would go forward.”

“Or we could use my start key,” said Heero as-matter-of-factly as he pulled said start key out of his back pocket. He opened up the start key and turned it on. It took a few seconds for the blue screen to reveal the lines and a beeping sound suddenly starts in two-second intervals. “I don’t have the map of the Ultra Deep Sea, obviously, but the Gundam start key is able to detect my Gundam’s presence within this place.”

“Rotom, do you think you can zoom out of the map and search for any structure that is abnormal or not native to this world’s environment within a five-mile radius?” Remilia asked her Rotom Dex.

“Sure thing! Zzzt!” Rotom responded.

It switched its normal map to topography mode (again, courtesy of the Aether Foundation) with the white contour lines representing the rocky areas of the Ultra Deep Sea, including the bulbed stalagmites. As the same with Rotom’s normal map mode, the light blue blips represent Remilia and Heero while the yellow blip represents Rotom (he requested it prior to have it installed in the case of any nearby electronics or machines). Digital text reading “SEARCHING…” appeared on the screen, repeatedly fading in and out as it looked for any of what Remilia had specified. Both of them stared at the screen intently, Heero more so than Remilia. Hope started to bud within him like a rose, wishing that his Gundam is in this place. If not, then they can go back through the Ultra Wormhole and look somewhere else, if Remilia likely has another part of Ultra Space mapped out, or is in the process of doing so.

“There, got it!” Rotom exclaimed, interrupting Heero’s train of thought. 

“So what’s the news?” Remilia inquired it.

“Can’t find it, boss, zzt.”

“So it must be somewhere outside of the inputted range,” said Heero, looking at the screen of his Gundam start key.

“Hopefully, it’s a little bit out of the radius I requested,” Remilia said to him. “I’d rather not stay in this place too long or else we would probably suffocate from the thick atmosphere in here.”

“I’m not planning to,” Heero frowned at her. “And neither are you.”

Remilia made a growling scoff. “Who said I was gonna?”

Heero made a soft sound.

“So we should use your Gundam start key to find your Gundam, after all, huh?”

“Yes,” Heero replied. “All of our start keys are designed to find and locate our Gundams, wherever they are, wherever we may be. 

“And this one here’s more sophisticated than Rotom enough to find your Gundam in Ultra Space.”

“Hey, I heard that! Zzzzt!” Rotom said angrily, its voice crackling from its emotional outburst.

“Pipe down, Rotom!” Remilia chastised it.

“Yes, so it appears,” said Heero, unfazed by Rotom’s quip.

“Well… let’s go then.”

The pink-haired Pokèmon Trainer and the Wing Zero pilot headed to the direction the former once went when she and her girlfriend Lillie were looking for Guzma and Lusamine. Without even exchanging words, it was readily understood between them that they walk next to each other for the sake of needing each others’ guidance on where to go. Remilia held Rotom in her hands to help Heero navigate through the Ultra Deep Sea whilst Heero, in turn, told her where to go next according to the map on his start key. Awhile, Remilia would take new topographic screenshots for her map-making of the Nihilegos’ homeworld to gather more geographical and habitat data for the Aether Foundation’s research. Heero once asked her if they would encounter any Nihilego during their search for his Gundam.

“Nihilego has the behavioral instincts of a young girl, it’s been observed,” Remilia had replied. “So the likelihood of encountering an actual one here is rather low, I’d say. As far as I’m concerned, it is very easily provoked if we display the slightest bit hostility towards it, so as long as we’re careful, we won’t be attacked by one. The least we could do is ignore them otherwise.”

Heero readily took the pink-haired girl’s advice, but hadn’t made a reply. Then he suddenly thought that since Remilia loves all Pokèmon regardless if they’re Ultra Beasts, and has quite a bit of knowledge around them, then maybe she should apply for a position in Ultra Beast research at Aether. But, he never really said that to her.

Neither of them knew how long they were walking around in this alien-esque cavern, but Heero noticed that Remilia was coughing a few times, but said few times were far in-between, presumably from the thick air. He wasn’t sure if he should be worried or not, and he is rather doubtful that Remilia has some data on the Ultra Deep Sea’s atmosphere, especially its composition by volume. He could speculate that the Ultra Deep Sea’s atmosphere is breathable for humans, if only for a limited amount of time. He would liken this to climbing Mt. Everest in his and the rest of the Gundam pilots’ world without an oxygen tank, except that the air would be thinner there. Given his intense soldier training from childhood, it would be a while longer for him to feel the effects of the thick air. Still, though, he can’t help but feel worried about how Remilia is currently faring in the Ultra Deep Sea.

“We’re getting closer to my Gundam,” Heero said to Remilia after a long period of walking.

“Wh-what was that?” Remilia asked him after she coughed a couple more times.

“Look.” Heero pointed at the screen that’s been beeping at a little more rapid pace.

Remilia took at look at the blue screen of his Gundam start key, her eyes on his index finger, then the faint sonic blip that’s just off-screen.

“We should be approximately two miles yet,” Heero explained.

Remilia felt her heart sink at the aforementioned distance. “Define approximate, is it a little more or a little less than two miles, as you said?”

“A little less. The two miles is an estimate I made.”

_ Thanks for stating the obvious, Mr. Roboto pilot, _ Remilia thought sarcastically. But seriously, though, two miles? They might make it overall, but  _ can she? _ She will be likely to pass out as soon as they’re close and Heero would have to carry her the rest of the way and give her mouth-to-mouth to delay her asphyxiation for a while longer. 

Still, Remilia decided not to complain, as her chest started to hurt and she and Heero continued on their little quest to retrieve his Gundam and reunite with the others and save Duo and Lunala. She suddenly wondered if Phyco and Soliera followed them and the others to any one part of Ultra Space as well. If this is the case, then it’s very unlikely that she would be in good condition to battle them, as much as she was willing to make them pay for hurting Quatre and Duo and causing the latter needless pain and suffering in their hands.

Remilia’s coughs are starting to become more frequent, and even Heero’s chest is starting to hurt a little from the thick air. This situation reminds him way too much of the one time he was told by Duo and Wufei that the oxygen supply in the prison cell they were in was cut off. Who would ever think that Heero would be in the same situation as they were? Remilia seems to be feeling the worst of it, despite the fact that she’s been to this place a few times. But throughout this whole time, she had been rather persistent, even with her slowly increasing frequency of her coughing and staggering behind a little, but she always catches up to him. Heero concluded that this was because she wants to help the pilots get back to their home dimension, and now she’s got her own friends and acquaintances to do their part in helping them, too. It feels… almost amazing somehow, that Remilia’s willing to go that far for them all…

The beeps on Heero’s start key are becoming more rapid the closer they are to his Gundam’s location. He also started to cough a few times, the near-suffocating effects of the thick atmosphere finally catching up to him. Beside him, Remilia fell to her knees, her coughs gradually becoming worse as her lungs were begging for fresh oxygen. Heero noticed this offered her hand to her, but she got back up without even noticing it. Frowning slightly, he looked at the blue screen again, this time the blip representing him was even closer to the larger blip, as indicated by the beeping that’s going at a very rapid pace. Which means that his Gundam is just a great several feet yet. But he also has to take Remilia’s health into account. He could see in her bright blue eyes a great determination and persistence--no different than himself, truth be told--but he doesn’t know how much longer she would last. He should really carry her all the way to his Gundam and into the cockpit so that she could get some fresh oxygen in there, and fast.

After walking most of the aforementioned distance, Heero’s Gundam came in full clear sight, frowning slightly at the glass polyps on the hands, legs and shoulders on the Gundam. There wasn’t a lot of them, thankfully, but it’s still a pain to see.

“Remilia,” Heero turned to the pink-haired Trainer, who is now again on her knees and coughing more aggressively. “We’re here. We finally found my Gundam.”

Remilia heard him speak, but didn’t make out most of the words due to her coughing incessantly. The only words she could make out are “found” and “Gundam.” After her coughing spell, she sighed in a vain effort to get more oxygen in her lungs. She felt dizzy and her head and chest hurt a great deal from the combination of the aggressive persistent coughing and the thick Ultra Deep Sea atmosphere. She’s gotta hand it to Heero for lasting this long without coughing so many times. She wonders if Heero might be secretly superhuman or something of the sort.

♫♩*~In the Beginning There Was… (ver. 2) - Xenosaga Episode II~*♫♩

She used her waning strength to get herself back up on her feet, trying not to breathe the thick air, but more or less failed that task as she let out a soft gasp, her eyes widening at the Gundam that Heero said they had found. 

The Gundam is huge, taller than an Alolan Exeggutor and a Celesteela combined. It’s almost entirely white, a shade of white that matches a Seel’s fur or any of the Nihilego residing. The shoulders and chest are blue, with the former almost looking like a retro-futuristic or something one would see on a magical girl’s costume (not that Remilia actually watches those types of shows). The most breathtaking feature of Heero’s Gundam is its wings. Its pure white angel wings. Remilia could feel her eyes gently stinging at the sight. It has to be illegal for something like this to be incredibly beautiful. Beautiful enough to make Milotic, considered the world’s most beautiful Pokèmon, look like a Plain Jane. Remilia also noticed that Heero’s angelic-looking Gundam was actually sitting slouched against the black bejeweled rocks, head limp, looking like a ball-jointed porcelain puppet carelessly set against a set of boxes or a wall, always going unnoticed.

Suddenly, Remilia found herself struggling to breathe. She started to choke, her lungs desperate for fresh oxygen. Feeling weak, she fell to her knees and to her side, clutching her chest and her head feeling like it’s going to explode.

Meanwhile, Heero, although relieved to see that his Wing Gundam Zero is in the Ultra Deep Sea after all and is intact (sans the glass polyps), wasted no time in getting the cockpit open so that he could check its computer systems to make sure there was nothing shorted or damaged during the unexpected, if rather forceful, trip through the Ultra Wormhole. He typed in his pass code on the start key and the external and internal hatch doors opened under Wing Zero’s chest where the blue portion of it is. Taking advantage of the low gravity in the Ultra Deep Sea, Heero jumped to Wing Zero’s knee and onto the doors. He turned to call out to Remilia, only to see her laying on her side in a fetal position, choking for healthy breathable air. 

Coughing a few times, Heero got off of the hatch doors and ran up to her. Noticing that her skin is very slowly starting to turn blue from the lack of oxygen, Heero scooped her up in his arms and bridal-carried her to his Gundam. Settling himself in the pilot’s seat with Remilia on his lap, Heero immediately closed the cockpit, and a gentle hissing sound was heard, meaning that Heero’s lungs are filling up with fresh oxygen, and it would mean that Remilia’s should be, too.

Said Pokèmon Trainer started to cough a little weakly, though her skin has returned to its natural color. She fluttered her eyes open as she took more breaths of the fresh oxygen that filled the cockpit. “H… Heero?”

“Remilia,” Heero acknowledged. “We’re in Wing Zero now. We should both be alright, you, mostly.”

Remilia took bigger breaths, grateful for the fact that this Gundam has a built-in oxygen supply. Heero understandably waited for her to get her breathing to normalize itself, relieved that she’s alright. If she was outside any longer, then Heero would have given her CPR as soon as they got in, although doing it in the cockpit would be somewhat difficult. 

Remilia then felt for the gold zipper on her white ruffled shoulder bag, as it was completely dark in the cockpit. Finally, she was able to find it and open the bag, and Rotom floated out, its eyes-and-mouth screen suddenly illuminating the cockpit, almost blinding her and Heero.

“Rotom, please lower the brightness enough so Heero and I can see each other better,” Remilia requested her Rotom Dex.

Without saying anything, Rotom did so and levitated to Heero’s left so that he and Remilia can see each other better. 

She then took a quick look around in Wing Zero’s cockpit. It’s roomier than she expected and there’s several monitors all around the front and sides as well as several different controls and buttons.

“What do you think?” She heard Heero ask her.

She turned to him, slightly intimidated by the way the LED lighting from her Rotom Pokèdex illuminated the left side of his face and dark hair. “I… I’m not sure. I mean, the outside looks majestic… Is-is that what you’re talking about?” To be honest, she is rather baffled that Heero would ask her a slightly personal question about what she thinks of Wing Zero. Well, she thinks it’s very beautiful; because it really is and not just because of her being a real robot fangirl.

“Maybe…” Heero replied quietly.

The two of them sat in awkward silence for a few seconds longer, each expecting the other to say something.

Finally, Remilia broke the awkward silence. “Hey, Heero?”

“Hn?” Heero looked at her.

“You will save Nebby and Duo, right?”

“Nebby?”

“It’s a nickname I gave to Lunala after my girlfriend Lillie entrusted her to me. She always called her Nebby ever since she was a Cosmog.”

Heero opted not to say anything.

Remilia shifted from being in Heero’s lap to on her knees on the edge of the seat between his thighs, careful not to let her white bag hit anything or her feet touch anything or her knees accidentally touching his groin. For extra leverage, she put her hands on each of Heero’s shoulders.

“You will save Nebby and Duo, right?” Remilia repeated her question.

Heero nodded once, not quite knowing where Remilia is getting at.

♫♩*~A Light in the Darkness - Aizawa (Hachimitsu-Lemon)~*♫♩

“Necrozma has possessed Lunala…” Remilia said, her tone slowly switching to sadness with every word she spoke. “And Duo’s trapped in that black crystal around her body… I don’t…” She lowered her head a little. “I don’t want to lose them… not after what just happened…”

A single tear dropped from one of her eyes and onto Heero’s pants.

“Duo and Nebby mean so much to me,” she continued, starting to cry. “Nebby was like my and Lillie’s child, even though she’s full-grown… Duo… is like my dad…”

Heero continued to listen to her, a small ping of familiarity resonating within him.

Slowly, Remilia put her head back up, fresh tears streaming down her face, not caring if they were staining Heero’s new clothes that she bought him. “Please… don’t kill them. Save them f-from Necrozma’s possession… just don’t kill them. I don’t want to lose my dad all over again.”

Even in the darkness illuminated by Rotom’s light, Heero was able to study Remilia’s crying face intently; namely, her eyes. They were pleading, desperate, and strangely, there was a tiny bit of love within them. The unconditional love she has for all Pokèmon and Ultra Beasts alike. A brief memory suddenly flashed within his mind. It was back on Libra, where he was preparing to leave in his Gundam to fight against Zechs Merquise once again… when “she” was begging him not to do so. Her eyes were the same as Remilia’s. Pleading, desperate, visibly crying. But the difference between them as that Remilia’s love for Pokèmon and Ultra Beasts was evident in her eyes; with her, he wasn’t able to pinpoint, although he did remember feeling warm and light every time they see each other… whenever they were together.

Almost as if it was moving on its own, Heero’s hand slowly reached to Remilia’s ear, and placed his hand onto her pink-brown locks, taking note of how soft and plush her hair is (he briefly wondered if her golden hair is as soft as hers). The latter felt a tingling sensation as soon as the former did that. She wanted to cry harder from the familiarity of it, but was too stunned by that unusually affectionate gesture done by Heero.

Heero began to stroke her pink-brown hair in an effort to soothe her turmoil and sadness; something an older sibling would do, he presumed himself to be. He stretched his thumb to Remilia’s slightly flushed cheek to wipe away any remaining tears falling out of her eyes. Remilia slightly leaned into the touch. It reminded her far too much of her late father, as he always gives her head pats and rubs as a sign of affection. 

“Mission: accepted,” Heero said one of his catchphrases.

A great weight has just been lifted off of Remilia’s shoulders no sooner did he say those words. Not knowing what else to do, she let out a soft cry and threw her arms around Heero’s neck and burying her face into his crook, which took him by surprise.

He responded by wrapping one arm around her upper torso and his other arm around her upper hips, placing his hand on them, unsure of what else to do, much less say and think. He ultimately decided to let Remilia pour out her emotions of joy and relief through crying, not caring if she ruined his new clothes. He also noticed that he’s glowing and sparkling again, which had happened before when he was keeping a promise to the girl he had rescued from Libra.

After a couple more minutes, Remilia extracted herself from Heero, rubbing her eyes and face in an attempt to dry away more of her tears and calming herself. She took a deep breath and let it out before saying “Thank you” with a relieved smile on her face.

Heero returned by slightly curling each corner of his lips, though Remilia could barely see it in the almost total darkness. “Sit back down on my lap,” he then told her.

Remilia did as she was told, relieving the tension in her knees and took a little of the time to massage them. Meanwhile, Heero typed in the startup codes on the main console and the light of the screens suddenly eliminated the darkness within the cockpit. Remilia gripped on the safety harness in anticipation, fighting against any fear an uncertainty within her. She can only hope, though, that the others get their Gundams and travel through the Ultra Wormhole once more to rescue Duo and Lunala from Necrozma’s possession, and maybe give Phyco and Soliera a well-deserved beating for what they did to Duo.

Wing Gundam Zero’s eyes suddenly glowed a bright green as it gets started by Heero. It then moved its head upright and slowly got itself standing on its feet, several of the glass polyps falling down to the black ground. Heero flexed its angel wings to make sure they’re still intact and once assured that there are no problems with them, Wing Zero flapped its wings to thrust itself from the ground, the lowered gravity in the Ultra Deep Sea helping it gain a great height than normal gravity back on Earth.

Due to the short distance, Wing Zero levitated back to the direction Heero and Remilia came from, only thrusting once or twice to get a little more distance off the ground. Once it got near enough to the Ultra Wormhole they came in from, it went down on its knee, as if it was thinking.

“Any idea how this Gundam is going to fit through the Ultra Wormhole?” Remilia asked.

“The Ultra Wormhole we came through was smaller than Libra,” Heero said, his analytical mind getting to work to think up a solution. “But it was large enough to swallow our Gundams whole.”

“So, are you going to physically enlarge it in order to get through?”

Heero gripped on the joysticks in deep thought. “I’m not sure if I would be able to do that with the Gundam. But we will have to try.”

Wing Zero slowly reached towards the Ultra Wormhole with both of its hands, and attempts to touch it with its thumbs and forefingers as if it was opening a small plastic snack bag. There was a bright flash and shock as soon as they made contact with it, startling Remilia and catching Heero off-guard. Wing Zero then put two index fingers on the edges of the Ultra Wormhole and slowly and steadily spread them out, the Ultra Wormhole stretching along with the movements.

Both Heero and Remilia felt a sudden jolt and the latter was almost lurched off of the pilots seat had it not been for Heero quickly wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her steady. She gripped on the safety harness tighter as the Ultra Wormhole became big enough to Wing Zero to fit through. After a few near-blinding flashes of white and powdery blue light, Wing Zero disappeared through the Ultra Wormhole, with the wormhole closing itself as soon as it got through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, can you imagine Wing Gundam Zero literally hover-hopping just to get somewhere just because it's not in space? lol
> 
> Also, yes, I'm using the EW versions of the Gundams because they're awesome. Although I think Wing Gundam Seraphim's kinda cuter than Wing Zero.
> 
> Also, I recommend giving 明るい闇のあるところ a listen. It's by the doujin circle Hachimitsu-Lemon. It's so beautiful and bittersweet I just can't not include that as an insert. Also fits well with passionate sexy romance lol
> 
> I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow, so sit tight! ^^


	15. Rainbow Mask ~ Ultra Tent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG I like, literally had a hard time coming up with a legitimate world for Blacephalon, to the point where I had to ask around on what their Ultra Space dimension is like. I had an easier time coming up with Ultra Tent's atmospheric composition (which is dopamine, according to someone). If you must know, that info came from the Pokemon trading card game featuring Blacephelon's dimension, so me and someone else had to build that world up from that foundation.
> 
> Alright, enough of my rambling, here's the newest chapter! ^^

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~???~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Death of London - H/MIX Gallery~*♫♩

Trowa went out of the white-blue Ultra Wormhole with ease, although Hau fell facefirst onto the dark violet dirt ground, making a low sound of pain.

The Heavyarms pilot turned to him and kneeled down, offering his hand to help him up. “You all right?”

Hau craned his neck upward and took his hand to get back up without a second thought, but he stumbled a little before Trowa briefly helped him get his balance back. “D-dizzy,” was his reply. “And feeling a little…” He gagged a little. “Sick.”

Trowa couldn’t blame the younger one; going through the Ultra Wormhole was pretty harrowing, almost like being in the backseat of a car going through a rough and bumpy road. Deep down, he was grateful that he didn’t have to experience that little bit of sickness Hau is feeling right now.

“I’m sure it will wear off momentarily,” he assured as he put a hand on Hau’s shoulder. “All that’s left now is getting my Gundam and get out of this place.”

Hau’s only response is nodding, as his stomach is still feeling a little wonky from going through the wormhole.

Trowa scanned this new place he and Hau are in currently. He knew for a fact that this is a part of Ultra Space, judging from all this purple and violet in wildly varying shades. The dirt ground is deep purple with occasional patches of grass in a deeper violet, with short, glowing spirals of different colors of yellow, pink and blue sprouting from underneath. Either side of the two boys are pitch-dark violet, gnarled trees with branches that twist and overlap each other, forming a grove. The gnarled branches also have perfectly rounded leaves which have the same colors as the spirals. Surrounding all of them is an eerie, purple fog that almost resembles departed spirits.

Trowa sniffed the air a couple times, and grimaced slightly; he moved the neckline of his turtleneck shirt to his nose and mouth to block out the sickeningly sweet air.

Hau, on the other hand, started to tremble in fear as he unconsciously took hold of Trowa’s free arm with both of his hands as they looked around the new landscape. Being in this place, the atmosphere… it feels far too reminiscent of the Ghost-type trial site Acerola chose. It’s no secret that he is scared of ghosts (with the exception of Remilia’s Mismagius), and to this day, he still wonders how the heck Remilia was able to beat the Ghost-type trial and the totem Mimikyu without being scared of them, while he only had to go through the trial twice after losing the first time just to get the Ghostium Z (not like he cared about getting the Ghost-type Z-Crystal). Granted, he was able to swallow his fear of ghosts before, but being in this part of Ultra Space did  _ nothing  _ to stop that fear from reawakening.

“Are you all right?” Trowa asked him after noticing the fear written all over his face. “You should cover your nose and mouth so that you wouldn’t breathe in the air.”

Hau hastily took his advice by unbuttoning the one button on his black shirt and lifted up to his face, revealing his navel. To his surprise, breathing in his own shirt helped him calm down a little. Maybe Trowa’s just  _ that  _ good at reading people.

“Let’s go,” said the Heavyarms pilot as he turned on his Gundam start key, which revealed where he and Hau currently are from the blips, each one sounding several seconds apart from each other.

Hau snaked his hand around Trowa’s arm, his fingers settling just at the lower base of his bicep (which he can amazingly feel underneath his green turtleneck sweater), much to the latter’s confusion.

“Are you really that scared, Hau?” he asked him.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Hau answered, a little more harshly than intended with his voice cracking. Puberty most definitely isn’t sitting well with him.

“I really couldn’t blame you,” Trowa continued. “This is an entirely new world where the Ultra Beasts roam. As long as we don’t disturb them in any way, we should be fine.”

_ Yeah, well, I really don’t know if I should be fine as long as I’m with you, _ Hau thought. “So how long until we get to your Gundam, Trowa?”

“Distance is less than four miles if we continue walking straight through this grove.” Trowa pointed to the screen with his thumb. “We could probably make it without suffocating from the unusual air composition.”

“Aggh.”

“It would also be for your benefit to calm yourself down to prolong your own oxygen supply.”

“I don’t know if I can, Trowa. I have a chronic fear of ghosts, and this place is like,  _ way  _ too reminiscent of the Ghost-type trial on Ula’ula.”

Trowa opted not to say anything; instead, he and Hau continued walking down the gnarly purple grove to where his Gundam Heavyarms is presumably located. He can only hope that this is the case in this world; otherwise, the two would likely die from inhaling too much of the foreign air, and that is not an option.

He looked down to check on Hau’s well-being. He still looked uneasy with his fingers tightly curled around the sleeve of his turtleneck. He prayed to whatever gods above that Hau can get through this without going through a panic attack, or else be reduced to a screaming mess should they encounter a Ghost-type Pokèmon, or anything remotely ghost-like. 

He doesn’t know why, but Trowa felt a little protective of Hau. It was a feeling that’s similar to Remilia while she was battling against Guzma at Malie Garden. The difference is, compared to Remilia, Hau looks small and vulnerable in this situation. He then concluded that his feelings towards Hau were brotherly, like how he was feeling towards Remilia. A small sensation of amusement tickled inside of him; Hau and Remilia, being his younger siblings… it is rather cute to think about, honestly. At least it would give him a sense of refreshment from being the “little brother” to Cathy back home (not that they were blood-related, anyway).

After approximately a mile of walking, both Hau and Trowa find themselves several feet away from an entirely new tree structure. Or rather, an entirely new structure consisting of gnarly trees with branches entangling, encircling and embracing each other, almost as if it was structured into a very large circus tent. They all had the same circular yellow, blue and pink leaves as the trees prior, only that they were larger and almost glowing, and they had the same spirals as the ground, only longer and they seem to spiral around the other larger trees as if the tent-like structure is a Christmas tree. 

“Ohhhhh crapbaskets,” Hau said dreadingly as he started shaking.

Trowa looked down at him. “What’s wrong?”

Hau retreated behind him. “I don’t wanna go in there.”

“How come?”

“Because this thing is a circus tent and there’s bound to be Ghost-type Pokèmon in there!”

“And what if there weren’t? Just because this structure of trees resembles a circus then doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s ghost Pokèmon abound.”

Hau swallowed as he absorbed Trowa’s words. He does make a fair point; maybe he’s letting his fear get the better of him… like when he went through the Ghost-type trial the first time and lost because of it.

He then took a deep breath through his shirt and let it out, his body halfway relaxing and his shoulders dropping as resolve flowed through him. He’s gotta be brave. He needs to be brave. He’s a brave boy.

_ I’m a brave boy,  _ Hau made the mantra inside his head.

He then stepped back to Trowa’s side and said to him, “Trowa, pat my head and say that I’m a brave boy.”

Although he was confused by the strange request, the Heavyarms pilot nonetheless complied. He placed his hand on Hau’s dark hair and made gentle small strokes. “You’re a brave boy.”

“I’m a brave boy,” Hau said his mantra.

“You’re a brave boy.”

“I’m a brave boy.”

“You’re a brave boy.”

“I’m a brave boy!”

Having found his confidence, Hau stepped away from Trowa--interrupting his head pats--and squared his shoulders as he braced himself for the upcoming dangers ahead of them both. “I’m a brave boy!”

_ I wonder if he had to give himself the same treatment back home, _ Trowa thought rather dryly.

“Let’s do this, Trowa!” said Hau, back to his usual cheerful self. “No backing out!”

The green-eyed pilot couldn’t help but have his lips curl into a small smile (at least underneath the neckline, but Hau couldn’t really see it because of that). “Let’s go in.”

The two of them walked towards the entrance of the dark purple tent-tree. As soon as they went in, they were taken aback by the interior of the tree structure. Expectedly, it was a little dark, save for the glowing dots and spirals encircling the interior structure. Said glowing dots were moving around from place to place, like they were fireflies levitating in the mid-summer. The place also looked bigger than it was outside. All over the place, there were purple vines that are either hanging, or were draped on the gnarled branches. Admittedly, the inside looks more beautiful than the outside; but, at the same time, Trowa could not help but feel that there is something “off” about this circus tent-like tree structure. As beautiful as the interior is, there was a sense of unease in the atmosphere, and it’s not really the strange air. But, according to his Gundam start key, Gundam Heavyarms is located somewhere in there; Trowa and Hau just needs to start looking, and fast, because the atmospheric composition could have some potentially toxic gases that would likely kill them if they don’t hurry.

Trowa looked around in the gnarly tree structure for his Gundam and suddenly wondered if this tent-like structure could actually be a forest of sorts, hence why it is bigger than it was outside. It could be anywhere in here, although hopefully not farther than he and Hau would have liked. He looked down to the screen of his Gundam start key. The blips are a little more frequent than they were prior to coming, so the odds are coming into their favor somewhat.

“This place looks pretty big,” said Trowa. “But thankfully, we are a little close to where my Gundam is, so we should be able to find it in the fullness of time. Although considering the distance, perhaps we should use your Flying-type Pokèmon for this.” He lowered his head to Hau, who appears to be looking around in a somewhat tense manner. “What was it, Noivern, I heard you call it earlier?”

“Yeah, it’s Noivern,” Hau replied as he was looking around as if searching for something.

Trowa noticed this and asked him, “What’s wrong?”

“Is it me, or do the small balls of light look clustered together in one bigger ball?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean they way they move… it looks and feels really unnerving, you know?”

Trowa looked back into the distance and tried to see what Hau was saying. He sees several colorful balls moving slightly, but not “clustered together” as Hau would put it… until with enough concentration, he was able to see what Hau described. Maybe those ball-like creatures could be the Ultra Beasts Remilia spoke of? If they are, then those things are pretty weird-looking and not that… vicious, so to speak. Regardless, if those light-cluster things are Ultra Beasts, then it’s likely that this tent-like forest could be their nest, perhaps a colony similar to that of a troop of monkeys or a flock of birds of paradise from the Gundam pilots’ world.

“I would have to guess that they’re Ultra Beasts,” the Heavyarms pilot said finally after several seconds of thinking.

Hau whipped his head with wide dark eyes, his splayed ponytail bouncing lightly. “Ultra Beasts!? Really?!”

“That’s my guess, though,” replied Trowa in his attempt to calm Hau’s excitement (or was it fear, maybe?). “But we should hurry still. And we shouldn’t disturb them, anyway. We’ve more or less invaded their homeworld to get what we want to get so it’s likely they might see us as hostile intruders to their colony.”

“You’re right, we shouldn’t. Those ball-cluster things are starting to creep me out.”

Trowa wanted to tease the younger boy by asking whatever happened to his “brave boy” bravado, but decided to bite his tongue. To be honest, he’s just as unnerved as he is, but Gundam Heavyarms is around here somewhere; more importantly, Duo and Lunala’s lives are at stake, they can’t just abandon them.

Both the boys continued to move forward following the blip on Trowa’s start key. The further they went in, the more unsettling this place feels, Hau more so than Trowa. So much for his “brave boy” mantra, then. Of course, the unsettling feeling might be because the atmosphere doesn’t have a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere like back on Earth (or both of their own Earths, for that matter), so perhaps all they’re feeling anymore is feeling somewhat light-headed. Hau also coughed a few times, which is enough to cause Trowa some degree of concern, and a greater sense of urgency and determination to get to his Gundam, get the heck out of here and save Duo and Lunala.

Suddenly, Trowa stopped in his tracks, which prompted Hau to do the same. He didn’t know why, but the former’s hairs on his neck stood on end and he felt a slight chill run down through his spine.

“What’s wrong?” Hau asked him.

“I think we’re being followed,” replied Trowa.

“F-followed?”

The two of them were suddenly startled by a clapping explosion behind them, the force knocking them down. Trowa only staggered forward once while he caught Hau in his arms by his waist. “What was that?” 

He suddenly felt a little exhausted, but still gathered the strength to turn around while holding Hau upright (he’s hardly looking all that great, honestly; Trowa worries that the strange air might be catching up to him, and possibly to himself as well).

His visible eye widened as he looked at the source of the loud explosion. Standing before him and Hau was a creature--an Ultra Beast, most likely--a clown-like Ultra Beast with a yellow, pink and blue body with white balls, ruffled collar, ruffled drop-shaped hands, and boot-like feet with a pink and blue ball on each. This Ultra Beast was missing a head, but to Trowa’s surprise, a new one quickly grew in place of it, almost looking like a disco ball with pink and blue explosion graphics with yellow circles on either side, which is acting like eyes.

_ This is already getting dangerous,  _ Trowa was thinking a solution to get him and Hau of the situation they got into.  _ This Ultra Beast likely saw us as a threat because we’ve invaded its colony… _

He looked up to notice more of the clown-like Ultra Beasts like this one suddenly appearing from the shadows of the gnarled purple tree branches, and they jumped down to the ground, surrounding both him and Hau.

_ Dammit. What should we do? _ “Hau.” Trowa shook the dark-haired boy a little.

Hau shook his head to keep himself awake. He felt somewhat drained after being startled by that explosion from earlier. “Wh-what?”

“Get Noivern out of your Pokè Ball so I can fly the rest of my way to my Gundam.”

Hau’s dark eyes went wide as saucers. “What?!”

“Have your other Pokèmon fight them off so I could get to it.”

“B-b-but what if those things get to you?”

“I’m sure Noivern and I can handle them both.”

“Can you?”

Another clapping explosion occurred behind Hau, but Trowa was able to gather him in his arms to his chest in time to protect him from it as soon as it did. 

He peeled his arms away from him and put his hands on his shoulders. “We don’t have time to discuss what I am and/or what I am not capable of doing. Our current circumstances say that we need to force our way through to get to my Gundam. All you need to do is trust me.”

Hau swallowed as he looked at Trowa dead in his eye. Deep down, he was right; it would make sense for him to create a distraction for the clown-like Ultra Beasts, if to lighten the load on Trowa to get to his Gundam via his Noivern.

“Okay,” Hau said shakily. “I’ll do it.”

Trowa nodded as he formed a small smile. “Good.”

♫♩*~Fireworks - Legion of Ivory~*♫♩

Hau quickly got out three of is Pokè Balls and sent out his Noivern, a tan gray fur-collared three-tailed bull known as Tauros and a black and red wrestler-looking bipedal tiger known as Incineroar. Trowa got onto the Noivern just as quick and ordered it to go to the direction he pointed. Noivern flapped its wings to thrust itself from the ground and flew to the direction Trowa indicated at a high speed.

Meanwhile, Hau ordered his Incineroar to use his Dual Chop and his Tauros Iron Head while he charged at the clown-like Ultra Beasts. To his relief, both of the moves have some amount of effect on them (he could only assume that their defenses are weak because they’re so skinny-looking); to his dismay, however, most of them simply dodged, and the amount used the same technique the first one did. They remove their heads and spiked them to the ground as if they were volleyballs, causing them to explode into bright fireworks-like colors with red, white, yellow, blue and pink. Incineroar and Tauros backed up a little, but still they fought against them.

Back to Trowa and Noivern, the latter used Dragon Pulse to push away anymore of the clown creatures should they become too much for Hau to handle. The Heavyarms pilot clutched onto Noivern’s white fur collar as much as he could so that he wouldn’t fall off. He checked the blue screen of his Gundam start key to make sure that they were going in the right direction. The blips are becoming more frequent than they were before, meaning that Gundam Heavyarms could be deep within this tree-structured cavern.

Another explosion suddenly went off behind them, catching them off-guard, and causing Trowa to fall off of Noivern, very nearly losing his start key in the process. Luckily, he was able to catch onto a thick purple vine, flipped once and set his feet onto it, bending his knees far from his collarbone. He witnessed Noivern retaliating against the offending clown creature with another Dragon Pulse. He briefly wondered what it took for Hau to tame something with a somewhat violent disposition as this.

Considering the current circumstances, Trowa got out of his bent-knee sitting position and hung from the vine with his hands yet again, and swung with enough force to go from the current vine to the next. If he can’t get to his Gundam via a flying Pokèmon, then he can do it with his native skills as a circus acrobat.

Trowa was able to quickly get from one vine to the next with ease, careful to not get in either Noivern’s or the clown-like Ultra Beasts’ line of fire. He heard the blips go even faster, further indicating that he’s very near to Heavyarms. Trowa saw a dark green silhouette in the shadows just then, lying on the trees as if it were a neglected doll. After doing more swings, flips, and somersaults, Trowa landed on the green portion of Gundam Heavyarms’ skirt armor, and typed in the passcode. The light green cockpit hatch opened, and he quickly climbed to the hatch opening, settled himself in the pilot’s seat and closed the hatch before any more of the clown creatures could get in. In the darkness, he typed in the activation passcode, and Heavyarms’ eyes glowed a bright green. Using the two Gatling guns to stand up, it used its thrusters to speed towards Hau, who seems to be having a hard time with the rest of the clown creatures.

Trowa brought the Gundam to a halt and knelt it down, placing its hand to the ground, palm up. “Get in!” he called out to Hau as soon as he opened the light green hatch.

Hau heard the green-eyed pilot’s call and shouted “Right!” as a response. He quickly returned Incineroar and Tauros back into their balls and jumped onto Heavyarms’ large hand. As soon as its hand reached the open hatch, Hau jumped into the cockpit and sat onto Trowa’s lap, holding on to the safety harness.

“We can’t forget about Noivern!” Hau said to him.

As soon as he said the Soundwave Pokèmon’s name, both of them heard another Dragon Pulse going off, and the loud flapping of bat wings heading towards them from behind.

Noivern suddenly appeared right in front of them with an unusually rather expectant look on its face, which surprised Hau and Trowa both. Actually, Hau seemed rather surprised  _ and _ ecstatic that Noivern was becoming more obedient to him, compared to the other times when it would rather attack something and do so continuously until that thing gets killed or gravely injured. He wasted no time to summon Noivern back into its Pokè Ball. As soon as he did, Trowa quickly closed the cockpit hatch and Heavyarms stood itself up straight. 

“Hold on tight,” Trowa warned Hau. “The ride out there is going to be rather bumpy.”

Hau gripped the safety harness tighter in an effort to brace himself for what Trowa was about to do, and prayed to the island tapus that it won’t be like travelling through that Ultra Wormhole. “R-right.”

Gundam Heavyarms’ eyes glowed green yet again and used its back thrusters to jump high from the ground. Trowa activated the vulcan guns in its shoulders to make an entryway large enough for Heavyarms to go through the top of the tent-like tree structure. As soon as it emerged from the top, it did a brief spinning somersault and cleanly landed on the purple dirt ground.

Inside the cockpit, Trowa panted lightly, as this was nothing new to him, while Hau had huddled himself closer to him, his eyes shut as tight as his grip on the safety harness.

“Hau?” Trowa said to him. “It’s over now.”

The dark-haired boy immediately opened his eyes and look at him in surprise. “Oh.”

“The Ultra Wormhole should be where we walked through the grove.”

Hau groaned in response.

Trowa made a small smile. “Don’t worry; it won’t be like last time.”

Hau looked back up at him. “Do you really believe that?”

“Of course I do.”

Unsure of what to say, Hau decided to take the green-eyed Gundam pilot’s word for it, all the while praying that what he said will be true. 

“You know I didn’t notice it before,” he decided to change the subject. “But your Gundam’s colors matched your outfit, you know?”

Trowa raised his visible brow. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. It’s green and white all over.”

“You know… I never really noticed that fact until you said it. Now that I think about it, I think that color scheme looks much more perfect. A lot better than the previous one, I might add.”

“What was Heavyarms’ old color scheme?”

“Orange.”

Hau looked at Trowa for one second until he burst out into laughter, collapsing onto his chest. “Orange?! Really?! That’s a pretty dorky color scheme for something as cool as this! It just sounds like a construction robot with that getup!”

Trowa couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the comparison the smaller boy made. “You’re right, it does sound that way.”

Both Hau and Trowa suddenly lurched forward by an unknown force. “What was that?!” the former asked first.

Trowa switched the monitors as soon as Heavyarms turned around. Though his visible green eye widened, he was hardly surprised. “Those things are still after us. Pretty persistent, they are.”

“Maybe they think we’re both invaders  _ and  _ prey?” Hau asked nervously.

The Heavyarms pilot opted not to say anything, and prepped the Gatling guns to fire at the clown creatures, which only added to Hau’s nervousness.

“Stop being fucking pests!” Trowa raised his voice. “All of you!”

He fired the Gatling guns at the clown-like Ultra Beasts, most of them being struck down by the beam bullets, exploding in a purple sparkling slime-like substance (which Trowa and Hau could assume is their blood). Hau could feel his chest tighten at the sight; at the same time, he was glad that Remilia was not here with them. If she were, then not only would she be shocked and horrified at Trowa’s course of action, but she would rant and yell and scream at him for senselessly slaughtering the Ultra Beasts dead, never mind that said Ultra Beasts were both out for blood and possibly see them as food. He loves Remilia lots, but she can be somewhat obtusely preachy when it comes to Pokèmon  _ and _ Ultra Beast welfare.

“Let’s go back to the Ultra Wormhole before any more of them show up,” Trowa informed Hau. “I’d rather not waste anymore of my ammo on more of them.”

“Yeah…” Hau replied, almost shell-shocked.

Heavyarms drifted onto the dirt ground towards the location of the Ultra Wormhole its pilot and passenger came out of. Soon, it detected an energy distortion in the area they were previously in and stopped less than half a mile from it. Brandishing its military knife, it sliced down the gnarled trees with ease so that it could clear some space for itself so that it could fit into the Ultra Wormhole somehow.

“Let’s see…” Trowa thought to himself. “How do we go about this?”

“I don’t suppose you have another knife in that left arm?” Hau asked.

“No, unfortunately,” Trowa replied as he continued to think.

Believing that he has come up with a solution, he directed Heavyarms’ hands to the Ultra Wormhole’s opening and placed its fingers where the wormhole starts to spread. A sudden distortion came about, streaks of charges fluctuating everywhere as Heavyarms physically enlarges the Ultra Wormhole.

Once it became big enough to fit Heavyarms whole, Trowa asked Hau, “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” he replied, realizing that he’s starting to sound a bit like Remilia.

Heavyarms slowly stepped into the Ultra Wormhole, the white light engulfing it and disappearing, and soon after, the wormhole had closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I originally used "At the Circus" from Endless Waltz, and played around with it using Audacity as the theme music for Ultra Tent, but it wasn't actually scary enough, so I had to go to H/MIX Gallery to find the best one, and "Death of London" sounded like the best option, as childish as it sounds when listening to it for the first time. For Trowa and Hau's scuffle with the Blacephelon, I originally used part of a doujin song, but it had a short loop, so I discarded it for Legion of Ivory's song for Blacephalon. I thought it was fitting for Trowa "against" the Blacephalon, so I went and used it as an insert.
> 
> Also, Hau being afraid of ghosts is actually a headcanon, because I no longer care for the Pokemon anime, I stopped watching it at the Diamond and Pearl series, though it wasn't entirely my decision; my mom wasn't able to afford cable anymore (2008 can go rot in hell). And I had absolutely no way to watch shows online other than YouTube and Hulu (you know, when it was free to watch, before it got a little greedy).
> 
> Okay, enough of my rant. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	16. The Sandy Filter ~ Ultra Desert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy since it's the weekend, I'll be posting another chapter on the same day!
> 
> Enjoy~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~???~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Ultra Desert - Pokèmon Ultra Sun and Moon~*♫♩

Quatre shielded his one eye from the blinding sun as soon as he and Gladion stepped out of the Ultra Wormhole and onto some sand. Blinking a few times, he surveyed the area around. The landscape is a whole desert decorated with pale-colored rock formations, also decorated with gemstones in the same shade of blue as his eyes sparkling underneath the sunlight. Upon further examination, there are also some sparkling blue dust within the pale sand, presumably the same blue crystals that might be ground-up. Or, perhaps, the blue glittering dust might be some sand that might be super-heated? If this was the case, then why a shade of blue instead of a clear glass color? Quatre ultimately decided to not try to find the answer to those questions, brushing it off under the fact that this is a part of Ultra Space, so of course this desert-like world is going to be alien to him. The air feels a little dry, almost sterile, but he concluded that this atmosphere is safe enough for Earth-born living beings.

“This place is prettier than I thought,” Quatre said his thoughts out loud.

“Yeah, but it’s still Ultra Space,” Gladion reminded him. “Ultra Beasts might jump us anytime, so I very strongly recommend to keep your guard up.”

“True.” Quatre wanted to politely remind him that he’s trained for situations like this, but opted to keep his mouth shut, considering his previous scuffle with Phyco and Soliera’s Poipole. He suddenly wondered if they might have followed them to the Ultra Wormhole on the Altar of Light on Poni, but he pushed those thoughts out of his head.

“So this Gundam of yours,” Gladion continued the conversation. “How do you guys even locate them if you hide them?”

“We use our start keys,” Quatre replied as he reached into his back pocket and produced a gray device that’s the same shape as the other pilots. “Our Gundams are built with a tracking beacon inside of them and these start keys are designed to track them down on the off-chance they get stolen by the enemy.” 

He turned on his start key and a blip only went off once, which made Quatre’s hopes skyrocket. “In this case, Sandrock is in this place somewhere, although it might take a while to find it.”

Gladion raised a visible brow. “‘Sandrock?’”

“Oh, that’s my Gundam’s name.”

“So, it’s a nickname you gave it?”

“Well, codename, really. All of our Gundams have their own unique name which fits their characteristics built into them.”

“And your Gundam’s name is Sandrock why?”

Quatre formed a smile that seemed to border on mischievous. “Well, why do you think?”

Gladion frowned for a couple of seconds before his eyes widened in realization. “Oh.”

Quatre giggled a little. “Now you know.”

The hoodie-wearing boy planted his hands on his hips and turned his head away as he let out a soft groan. He no longer feels inclined to ask what the other pilots’ Gundam’s named are.

He suddenly turned his head back up and said. “We should get going. We can’t stay in this spot any longer.”

“Agreed.” The Sandrock pilot visored his sight with his arm. “It’s going to be quite the trip, though. If only I’d brought along my desert cloak.”

“I do have something that should help, though,” Gladion said as he opened up his red rectangular fanny pack and took out a small lilac disk with a metallic blue piece clipped onto it.

“What’s this?” Quatre asked.

“It’s a memory disc,” Gladion replied as he took out a Pokè Ball from his hoodie pocket. “It’ll be useful during our search for your Gundam.”

He released a chimeric Pokèmon, Silvally, from his ball, and inserted the memory disc within its drive where one of the corners of its mouth is. Quatre simply stared at the size of that creature. This thing’s as tall as a horse!

Glowing lilac wings suddenly sprouted from Silvally’s back, and Silvally lowered itself down to the sandy ground so that its Trainer can get up to his back. Gladion looked at Quatre--who’s still staring in greater awe--as if to beckon him along.

Gladion noticed the vacant stare on him. “Are you coming?”

His words snapped the bandaged pilot out of his confounded stupor. “O-oh yes, yes! Sorry about that.”

Quatre climbed up on the great beast’s back and positioned his hand on the other boy’s hip, his fingers scrunching up the hem of his black hoodie, his other hand still holding his start key.

Gladion commanded Silvally to take flight and the latter obeyed, flapping its new wings thrice, creating a small sparkling dust storm to propel itself in the air and reaching the bright blue sky.

Quatre looked at the small monitor on his start key, the blips still going at a steady speed. At the same time, he would flick his eye in all directions to look for any possible signs of his Sandrock Gundam. Unfortunately, the only drawback he has with him is the fact that everything looks a little blurry, no thanks to his eye being covered up by bandages. He could hardly wait until he gets home to rest; and maybe take those bandages off, probably check with one of his older sisters (who is a doctor) to see if his eye and hand would heal completely.

“So would you mind telling me a little bit about Silvally, Gladion?” Quatre decided to ask.

There was a moment of hesitation from Gladion before he answered. “Silvally is not a natural Pokèmon.”

Quatre tilted his head slightly. “I’m sorry?”

“Silvally and his brothers were originally created to be Anti-UB fighting life forms by the Aether Foundation,” Gladion explained further without a hint of emotion in his voice. “It was created with the cells of all known Pokèmon types, including the Flying-type you’re seeing right now. This was done with the purpose of shifting between types, depending on the memory disc inserted into its drive. As far as I know, only three were created, but they were cryogenically frozen permanently due to their rejection of the RKS System. I was only able to rescue Silvally just to run away from Aether Paradise.”

The Sandrock pilot listened intently, swallowing before asking again, “Why did you run away from Aether Paradise? As far as I know, you have a home there, right?”

“To get stronger,” Gladion replied bitterly, no longer comfortable talking about the subject of Silvally.

To his relief, Quatre sensed his uneasiness and decided not to ask any further. Meanwhile, the blips on his start key started to become progressively faster.

“We’re getting close to Sandrock,” he said.

“In which direction?” Gladion turned his neck to ask.

“Right in front of us, actually,” answered Quatre. “Just under fifteen miles yet. Can you see even a speck of it?”

Gladion craned his neck up slightly and knitted his blonde brows together. He does see a small albeit blurry speck in the distance, but he’s not entirely sure if it’s Sandrock Gundam or just another rock formation. Then again, Quatre did say that it might be in front of them, and with that great a distance, it’s probably blended against some rock/gemstone formation.

“I think I see a blue color that very starkly contrasts against the rock formations,” he said.

“That’s got to be Sandrock,” Quatre confirmed as the blips on his start key started going faster by the distance closing between them and Sandrock Gundam.

Just as Sandrock Gundam was coming into full view, something suddenly attacked Silvally, almost causing it to lose its altitude. Quatre shrieked as soon as the impact hit.

“What was that?!” he yelled.

♫♩*~Ambush ~ Seized Battle - Unknown~*♫♩

Gladion looked down at the perpetrator that did this, but all he saw as a white blur before Silvally got attacked again, very nearly causing him to lose his grip on the latter’s white mane. Rather than answer Quatre’s question or figure out what their attacker might be, he quickly reached into his hoodie pocket and took out an Ultra Ball. He and Quatre scooched back (to the point where Quatre is barely an inch towards Silvally’s blue tail-fin) as the former released a red skinny werewolf-like creature with white wild fur with the front spike that appears to be dipped in dried mud (at least that’s what Quatre thinks is dried mud). Even its body is covered in strange rock-like coverings!

“Lycanroc, use Stone Edge!” Gladion commanded the red werewolf creature.

The Lycanroc howls sharply as jagged stones suddenly sprung up from the ground, managing to hit a few of the white blurs but also missing Silvally. To Quatre’s surprise--as they fell to the ground--the white blurs are cockroaches! Creamy white, tall, lanky and feminine-looking cockroaches, which look like they have wings for hair. At least, that’s what Quatre thinks that those are wings. 

The white femenine-looking cockroaches got back up on their spindly feet, shaking their ellipsed spherical heads and charged up to attack again. Whenever they do, Gladion’s Lycanroc would use Stone Edge yet again to repel them away from Silvally.

“This is getting tedious!” the hoodie-wearing boy shouted in irritance. “Quatre, you’ll have to make it to your Sandrock Gundam on your own!”

“But what about the cockroach creatures?” Quatre asked him as he dodges from one of the creatures’ physical attacks.

“I’ll hold them off! You just worry about getting into your Gundam!”

_ “Hold them off?” _ Quatre thought frantically.  _ But we’re so high up! _

Before he could think any further, he heard Gladion shout at his Lycanroc to use Stealth Rock. Pointed, jagged stones suddenly emerged from the sprinkled sand and turned almost parallel from the ground. 

“There!” Gladion shouted at him. “You can use these to hop to your Gundam! I’ll cover for you so just go!”

♫♩*~The Youkai Mountain ~ Mysterious Mountain - DRUGON~*♫♩

Despite the lingering doubts within him, Quatre nodded and brought his leg over to the left side of Silvally’s bottom and jumped from it to the floating Stealth Rock. Relieved that he was able to make a smooth landing, he ran to the nearest Stealth Rock and jumped onto it, nearly losing his footing in the process. He jumped to one of the rounded platforms of Gladion’s Lycanroc’s Stone Edge to see how much farther Sandrock is from him. It’s a little closer than it was in his previous position.

Quatre swallowed. He’s not particularly sure if he can make the distance. He’s not as athletic and agile as the rest of his fellow Gundam pilots, but both Duo and Lunala are in grave danger; he needs Sandrock Gundam in order to assist the others in saving them both.

Swinging his arms forward and back twice, Quatre jumped onto another Stealth Rock, trying his best to dodge the feminine cockroach creatures zipping and blurring by him in an attempt to attack him, Gladion and Silvally. This process repeated itself until finally, he landed on the sandy ground. Quatre looked at his start key. The quickened blips changed into a high-pitched drone. He’s closer to Sandrock than he was. He quickly entered the passcode on the keypad and ran to the gray metal tether and inserted his foot into the triangular handle. The tether lifted him up to Sandrock’s cockpit (disregarding the fact that Sandrocks anti-beam cloak is missing) and the light blue hatch opened for him.

Quatre wasted no time getting into Sanrock’s cockpit and used the activation codes for it to start it up. Sandrock’s eyes glowed green upon activation and slowly stood itself up, startling the cockroach creatures in the process, and closing its giant navy-and-white hands into fists. 

“Come on, Sandrock,” Quatre said to his comrade in his cockpit. “Let’s go get Gladion and his Pokèmon and get out of this place.”

To speak of the devil, Gladion, Silvally and Lycanroc came into Sandrock’s range and Sandrock opened its fist and turned it upward so that Silvally can land on it. Gladion immediately got of the chimera Pokèmon and returned it and Lycanroc back into their balls. Sandrock moved its lower arm toward its cockpit hatch and Quatre opened it for him.

“Hop in!” Quatre cried out to him.

“Is there really no way for me to get myself settled in other than to sit in your lap?” Gladion asked sarcastically.

“There’s no other choice, unfortunately!”

Gladion decided that Quatre has a valid point and hopped into Sandrock’s cockpit, quickly nestling himself onto Quatre’s lap the best he could, given both of their heights (and as much as Sandrock’s cockpit is roomy).

The blonde bandaged pilot immediately closed the cockpit hatch and activated Sandrock’s back thrusters to move towards the Ultra Wormhole. In comparison to Silvally’s speed, Sandrock can go back to the Ultra Wormhole in approximately half the time it took to find, locate and retrieve Sandrock in this desert alien world.

“These cockroach creatures are still after us,” said Quatre as he looked at the sensor monitors, a little dismayed.

“I did say that Ultra Beasts would attack us as soon as we’ve invaded their territory, did I not,” replied Gladion as-matter-of-factly.

“I know that, and I’d rather not complain about it.”

“Those Pheromosa, though, they’re a pretty persistent bunch when it comes to their territory.”

Quatre looked at him with a wide visible eye. “Those cockroach creatures are Pheromosa?”

“Yeah, but we don’t have time for a biology lecture about those right now. We’ve still got your friend to save, also Lunala.”

Quatre smiled, which radiated both hope and confidence. “You’re right we do.”

Sooner than later, Sandrock arrived at the Ultra Wormhole with these Pheromosa hot on their trail. Using its thumbs and index fingers, Sandrock expands the wormhole in order to make it big enough for it to fit through. The Ultra Wormhole let out black and blue lightning streaks as it was physically expanded and started to suck the sand and ground crystals in. Regardless, Sandrock entered the white-blue vortex and disappeared into it, the Ultra Wormhole closing shortly after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is shorter (and thus less action-packed) than the other ones. I'll be posting a new chapter tomorrow, though! So please stay tuned!


	17. When Smoke Leads to Fire ~ Ultra Plant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, 64 hits?! Yesterday is was 53! D=
> 
> Anyway, two more chapters and the epilogue to go~! Crazy, right? Next chapter's gonna be the climactic battle with the Gundams and Pokemon against Necrozma! Doesn't that make you feel excited?
> 
> Enjoy~!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~???~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~Ultra Plant - Pokèmon Ultra Sun and Moon~*♫♩

The world is dark, stormy, illuminated by both the lightning and the glowing spiked balls placed on top of black cable-cord monolith trees; the smell of burnt metal also present. Black monoliths are very commonplace, adding on to the strangely peaceful dread.

Out the white-black Ultra Wormhole steps out Plumeria, Guzma and Wufei, the latter of which was unfortunate enough to catch a whiff of the burnt metal scent and gently coughed twice. The trio looked around this new dimension, the sky flashing occasionally with harsh lightning strikes. Wufei, in particular, gasped at the metallic structures. They look like monoliths, but they're twisted and roped around each other. It's not how they're built that they took the Altron pilot's breath away. The top of the structure has a white, glowing spiked ball, and around the ropes are white appendages that closely resemble zip-ties that slowly flash occasionally. The spiked ball appears to be pulsating slightly, and white electric currents sometimes flow in or out of the ball.

Guzma shuddered slightly. "This world is funky AF… I dunno what's worse, this or those Nilejo things' world…"

Plumeria turned to her former leader. "What's the matter, Guzma, you scared?"

Guzma whipped around to face her. "Who ya callin' scared? I'm the Team Skull Boss--well, former, actually--and I ain't scared of nothin' and nobody! Hell, I make my entire life makin' people scared of me!"

"And then you got beaten down by the one kid who eventually became Champion of Alola."

Guzma inflated his chest for a minute, as if preparing himself to yell, but he exhales just as much as he did. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"If you two are done talking amongst yourselves, I still need to find my Gundam and get out of this hellish industrial dimension!" Wufei barked at them as soon as he opens up and turns on his start key so that they can start looking for Altron.

"We're coming with," said Plumeria as she walked towards him, with Guzma following behind. "It never really hurts to be patient, you know."

Wufei huffed and looked at the blue screen as it was searching for Altron's possible location. Unfortunately, his start key let out a sound that indicated that it couldn't find it.

"Dammit all," he said bitterly under his breath.

"Maybe the electric storm could be interfering with its function?" Plumeria asked curiously.

Wufei gave her a sour look.

"What's with you? Just because your start key couldn't find your Gundam doesn't necessarily mean that it's not here." Plumeria paused. "Or is it because you'd rather not admit that you're wrong?"

The slick-haired boy turned back to his start key and flicked at the base once just so that it could get a proper reading. Still nothing.

"What if it's just out of range?" Guzma asked.

Both Wufei and Plumeria looked at him.

"Look, we're in a different dimension and Wufei's Gundam could be farther away from where we are, at least outside of range. And besides, that thing Wufei's holding is pretty much ancient for crying out loud!"

Plumeria hummed in thought for a second. "He does have a point."

"For the information of you two," Wufei said to them. "This start key was developed by the five smartest minds up on the colonies along with our Gundams!"

"With what, junk made from nineties tech that was buried in the ground?" Guzma sneered.

"You know what?!"

"Guys, hey," the young tanned woman said. "We've still got Wufei's Gundam to find, so there's no need to bite each other's heads off." She then turned to the Altron pilot next to her. "Guzma may be right, though; we're most likely too far outside of whatever range your start key can detect."

Wufei let out a low growl and starts to walk away from the group. As soon as he set foot on the very thick cable-like bridge, he heard a sudden blip sound going off once on his start key. Taken by surprise, Wufei stilled himself as he waited for another ping. However, there was no blip sound after.

Guzma and Plumeria, having heard the noise, jogged up to where Wufei was on the cable bridge.

"Sweet!" he heard Guzma say. "Looks like we got into range, after all!"

"May I be the first to say congratulations on your speculation turning out to be true after all," Wufei deadpanned.

"A little 'thank you' would also suffice," said Plumeria.

Wufei opted to ignore her, then whipped his head to his start key monitor as soon as he heard another ping.

"Think your Gundam is just straight ahead in front of us?" Plumeria asked as she looked over Wufei's shoulder, taking note that he's a little shorter than her.

"It might be," Wufei replied in an unusually soft tone.

Guzma, meanwhile, looked ahead in the distance, his eyes focusing on what could be Wufei's Gundam among the mass of cable-cord monoliths. Lightning flashed, and he noticed a strange-shaped shadow resting against one of the monolith trees. Lightning flashed again and again, as if the storm was reading Guzma's mind to make sure that his eyes aren't tricking him. More lightning flashes, and his eyes confirmed what he was seeing all along.

"It's over there, isn't it?" He pointed towards one of the cord monoliths.

Plumeria and Wufei looked up to where Guzma might be pointing. True to his word (helped by the flashing lightning strikes), there is an unusually-shaped hard shadow reflecting on one of the monoliths in the distance.

Wufei's narrow eyes widened as he was able to focus hard enough on the shadow, and he bolted away from his two companions (well, actually, Wufei would hardly call them companions; in fact, he would much rather find Altron all on his own without Guzma and Plumeria being around).

Confused, Plumeria called out to him, "Wufei! Where do you think you're going!?" and ran after.

"Kid! Don't you know that this place might be dangerous?!" Guzma called out to him as well, running after Plumeria.

Wufei ignored their shouts and continued running to where Altron is, relying on the distant pings on his start key for guidance. The cord-like paths twisted and turned in whichever direction Wufei went, but he didn't really care; he just wanted to get Altron back. But, he does know that he's obligated by a vow to rescue Duo and the skeletal bat-like Pokèmon (he forgot its name) from the clutches of Necrozma. Wufei would consider it injustice to leave his comrade behind at Necrozma's mercy.

Plumeria was starting to get fed up with Wufei's recklessness and got one of her Ultra Balls out of her pants pocket, releasing her Gengar and commanding her to grab Wufei before he does anything stupider than what he's doing right now.

Gengar disappeared into nothing and floated away from her Trainer, slowly gaining on the unsuspecting slick-haired boy. Wufei suddenly felt cold, like he was somehow transported into one of the polar regions back home. He found himself being lifted off the ground and started to wriggle himself free, but his efforts were in vain. The shadow Pokèmon made herself visible again, nestled Wufei into her arms bridal-style (much to his protests, on both of the accounts), and lifted him up to one of the other monolith platforms.

Wufei was finally able to free himself from the ghost Pokèmon and shouted at it, "What the hell was that for?!"

Gengar only snickered in response, which only adds to the boy's irritation. Plumeria and Guzma caught up to them both, and Wufei was about to give the fuschia-haired young woman an earful when she cut her off: "Wufei, we get it, you wanna get your Gundam ASAP so that we can get out of this place, but newsflash: Guzma and I noticed that this place is teeming with Electric-type Ultra Beasts. Don't believe me? Take a look."

The Altron pilot looked down to the cable cord bridges and discovered that Plumeria was right; there are Ultra Beasts resembling cable cords walking around. He even had to blink a few times to make sure his eyes aren't tricking him.

"Yeah, Plumes and I had a hard time believing it when we first saw 'em, too," Guzma sympathized with Wufei.

"Would be nice if either one of you told me that prior!" Wufei said to the two of them harshly.

"Uh, we didn't, because we both thought it would have been obvious to you the moment the Ultra Wormhole appeared back on Poni's altar," Plumeria deadpanned to him.

"Not these creatures, evidently!"

"I mean that whenever there's an Ultra Wormhole, it usually leads to Ultra Space, and when there's Ultra Space, they're usually inhabited by Ultra Beasts, so it should be common knowledge that we need to be careful when it comes to these things." Plumeria planted her hands on her hips. "Furthermore, does it even matter?"

Wufei just gritted his teeth as he scowled at her.

"Look, this isn't the place to bicker about it. We can continue retrieving your Gundam, but we can plan a better and efficient route while trying not to encounter these black cable creatures at the same time, so that we don't provoke them by accident." The tanned Pokèmon Trainer stared at Wufei icily to put emphasis on the last several words of her last sentence. Wufei returned the sentiment, as if daring to challenge her.

Guzma attempted to diffuse the tension, "So, uh, how do think this route planning should work, Plumes?"

Plumeria turned her head towards her former charge, her gaze softening slightly. "We'll use Gengar to levitate up into the air to see if there are any cable creatures on whatever path we might take. And with Wufei's start key, we still should be able to get his Gundam and get back to the Ultra Wormhole so that we can hopefully regroup with the others, if they found their own Gundams."

Wufei swallowed as he heard the plan laid out by the woman in front of him. As much as he hates to admit it, Plumeria is right. It was foolish of him to charge head on leaving Plumeria and Guzma behind. There's also the fact that these cable-creature Ultra Beasts are roaming around in this world. A sudden encounter with them would result in electrocution by one of them. And also as much as he hates to admit it, Wufei wishes that Remilia was with him instead of Plumeria and Guzma. She is better well-informed about the Ultra Beasts--and Ultra Space in general--than those two, as bitchy as she was when they first met (well, bitchy from his perspective; he's still a little sour over nearly being killed by that mermaid-seal's Moonblast on top of being pummeled around by that purple butterfly's psychokinetic powers).

"All right, fine," he finally said after a long moment of thinking. "We'll go along with your plan, then."

"Now you're seeing reason," Plumeria replied with satisfaction evident in her voice. "Gengar, it's your call."

The spiky-furred Pokèmon saluted her master in response and levitated upwards towards the stormy sky, looking around for any cable-cord creatures walking around on various bridge paths. She called out to the three, pointing a path just at their right. Plumeria directed Guzma and Wufei to where Gengar was pointing and told the latter two to follow them both, with Wufei begrudgingly complying. (Although as a bonus, he can still help Gengar with pinpointing the actual distance between the group and Altron, which he prays won't take too long to find, considering.)

As soon as the group finds another forked path, Gengar points at the one where they should take, where they are least likely to encounter the cable creatures, and the trio takes the path indicated by the shadow Pokèmon. There are some points during their quest for Altron Gundam that there are several of the cable creatures each of the paths that would be candidates, so they opted to go with the path where it's least populated, taking caution not to accidentally disturb them. There were also some points where lightning struck at the black metal ground, occasionally dangerously near them, but thankfully, neither one of them was literally struck by the lightning.

The process repeated itself until the pings on Wufei's start key started to increase in frequency, and eventually, they came across a monolith cliff where Wufei's start key let out a long ping and stopped sounding.

"It must be right here," said Wufei, hope evident in his voice with a touch of annoyance.

Another lightning strike hit the metallic ground no sooner did he say those words. It briefly showed a shadowy silhouette of Altron showed on the other side of the cliff.

"It is here," said Plumeria in confirmation of Wufei's observation.

Wufei turned his head sharply at her. "Do I really need your inside perspective?"

"Hey, there's no need to get all snippy at me. It's an already now-known fact that your Gundam is here in this world."

"Your point being?"

Plumeria sighed as she crossed her arms. "That you should at least be thankful to me, Guzma and Gengar for helping you out?"

"Because I had no choice but to accept your help?"

"Oh, for-- You have a friend to save, don't you? We're helping you do that because we want to; no because we're obligated to." Well, if not have Guzma redeem himself a little…

Wufei fought the urge to growl at her, but his signature scowl is still present on his face. "Well… I'm actually glad for the assistance, not like I ever needed it anyway…"

Plumeria sighed and shook her head. "You're quite the haughty bastard, aren't you?"

Anger flared up in Wufei's dark brown irises. "What did you say to me?"

"I'm stating the truth, genius. You're just as haughty as Guzma once was."

"Hey, there's no need to rub it in, you know?!" Guzma shouted at his former admin, not caring about her future response, let alone if she would even bother to hear it.

"Me, haughty?" Wufei argued back. "At least I don't put out for wearing belly-tops and baggy pants that show off your lace panties!"

A lightning bolt struck the Altron pilot at that very moment, causing Plumeria to jump back in surprise. The former then collapsed to the black metallic ground after a few seconds, little wisps of smoke coming from his body. Plumeria and Guzma--and even Gengar's--eyes widened in shock and what just happened, a thousand thoughts running through their heads wondering if Wufei is alright.

Their thoughts are answered when Wufei finally manages to start getting himself up, moaning lightly. Guzma couldn't help but cover his mouth with his hands as he snickered. Plumeria only remained looking concerned.

Wufei heard Guzma snicker and manages to slur out, "Wh-what, what? Wh-what are you snickering at?" He moaned again as he put his hand to his forehead, only for his fingers to meet frizzy, kinky hair. Off-put by this new texture, he felt it some more. "Huh?" He looked down to his faded reflection on the ground. Frowning, he tried to focus on the reflected image.

"WHAT THE SHIT!!!!" he shrieked as he curled his fingers into his lightning-struck afro.

Guzma burst out laughing at Wufei's misfortune, with Plumeria's Gengar joining in, unable to contain the laughter any longer. "Holy-- This is just too much for me to handle! You look like a seventies black kung-fu movie character! You just made my day!"

Wufei swiftly got back up on his feet, anger with some evidence of humiliation radiating from him. "You think this is funny to you?!"

"Pff-pffft, not compared to you being struck by lightning, really," Guzma replied in his laughter, tears starting to form in his dark eyes.

"Which is instant karma, I might add," Plumeria added with a smug smile on her face.

"Well how about screw you guys!" Wufei turned around and stomped away from them in a huff, only for him to step on a loose metallic rock and lose his footing, and fall down the monolith cliff, only the upturned hand of Altron Gundam saving him from the potentially deep fall. His grunt was only heard by Plumeria and Guzma, who was still laughing at his little lightning-struck afro misfortune.

Wufei got himself into a proper sitting position and shook his head to rid it of the banging pain. A wave of relief washed over him no sooner than did he see the grassy green mobile suit laying against the monolith mountain. Quashing his still-bitter thoughts about Guzma and Plumeria briefly, he tapped in Altron's passcode into his start key (which he was thankful for holding onto despite being struck by lightning, collapsing and accidentally falling off of the mountain he, Plumeria and Guzma were on), and Altron's cockpit hatch opened in response.

Seeing as there was no way to get to the metal tether, he climbed his way to Altron's shoulder, then to its light green gold-trimmed chest plate and finally jumping to Altron's open cockpit hatch and managing to climb into it. Closing the hatch, Wufei activated Altron with his start key, and its eyes glowed green, making it to get itself out of its relatively awkward sitting position and stand upright.

Altron turned around and started to climb the monolith mountain. Although the height difference was not great, it is a tiny bit of a struggle to climb, given how a little smooth the mountain is. Wufei had to rely on looking for open platforms which are not only large enough, but for Altron to safely set one foot on with minimal risk of slipping.

As soon as Altron's gold V-fins are visible to Plumeria and Guzma--who is still laughing at Wufei's recent misfortune--Wufei made an effort to make its entire head visible, including showing the glowing green eyes. Mercifully, Plumeria and Guzma stopped laughing and walked up to the giant Gundam head, Plumeria returning Gengar to her ball prior. Altron reached its left arm to the flat top of the mountain and laid its mechanical hand on there, palm directed towards them.

Seeing that there's no other choice, Plumeria and Guzma walked towards the open palm, and Altron's hand scooped them both up, carefully wrapping its massive fingers around them both; tight enough to hold them securely, but loose enough to accidentally crush them to death (as much as Wufei wants to for laughing at him, which is humiliating enough as it is).

Altron carefully climbed back down to the monolith mountain's base and brought its arm back to its upper torso, where its cockpit hatch is, and opened up its hand so that Guzma and Plumeria can sit normally.

Wufei opened up the hatch, no longer caring if they continue to laugh at his lightning-struck afro. Plumeria and Guzma stared at him. "Do you really expect us both to get inside the cockpit with you?"

"As much as I'd rather not have people like you in the cockpit with me," Wufei seethed hard. "It would be preferable if one of you would get in with me."

"So, who gets to volunteer, Plumes?" Guzma asked his former Team Skull admin.

The tanned young woman stared at him briefly. "I'm going in."

"You are?" Wufei said in a flat tone.

"It makes a lot more sense to have the second smallest person to be in the cockpit with you, Wufei."

Wufei exhaled sharply. "Fine."

He then directed Altron's arm towards the open cockpit hatch, and Plumeria climbs in, repositioning herself to sit on Wufei's lap, careful not to let her feet accidentally touch the cockpit's controls and buttons, but also to let her long legs away from Wufei's arm.

"That position was not necessary," Wufei said coldly.

"Would you rather I sit in your lap the other way with my butt in your face?" Plumeria rebutted.

Wufei growled rather than answer and closed Altron's cockpit hatch, the light from the monitors illuminating the entirety of it. "I suggest you hold on to Nataku's finger for this one, Guzma."

"That's your Gundam's name?" Guzma responded. "Nataku?"

"Its code name is Altron, which comes from my colony's language which means 'two-headed dragon.' Nataku is just a nickname I gave it."

"It sounds pretty cute," Plumeria pitched in.

Wufei just glared at her. "There is nothing cute about Nataku."

Plumeria had to turn away slightly to snicker. "Pfft, okay, Edgy McEdgster."

"What did you say?!"

"I said let's get back to the Ultra Wormhole and meet up with others. With any luck they'd have found their own Gundams."

"There's no need to tell me twice." Wufei activated Altron's back thrusters and flew the two Pokèmon Trainers back to where the Ultra Wormhole is. Considering its small size, Wufei decided that using Altron's dragon fangs would be unwise. Instead, he has Altron insert its fingers into the hole, and spread it open so that it could fit something as enormous as a Gundam or any other mobile suit. With the task done, Altron disappears into the Ultra Wormhole, the wormhole closing after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, Wufei was a bit of an ass in the original series in retrospect. A poor reason would be that I'm not that great at portraying him the best I could. Writing Hong Kong from Hetalia was a dozen times easier than Wufei...


	18. One Who Gives Birth and One Who Steals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is guys, the climactic battle! Hold on, because it's gonna get wild!

Chapter 18 - One Who Gives Birth and One Who Steals

__________________________________________________________________

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ultra Wormhole~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~Rin - Eliminator~*♫♩

The angel-winged Gundam flies through the Ultra Wormhole, bright streaks of powdery blue flashing past the massive machine. Heero, with Remilia on his lap, navigates through, careful to not let Wing Zero become ensnared by the other ringed wormholes’ gravitational pulls. The various sensors built in Wing Gundam Zero all say that there are unusually high energy outputs emitting from the other ringed Ultra Wormholes, only blaring when Wing Gundam becomes too close with in the range of each of their gravitational pulls, prompting Heero to move the joysticks slightly in two directions to stay away from the pulls.

Remilia rests her head on Heero’s safety harness, her hat just barely touching the crook of his neck, and her right hand having a soft grip on the glossy material on the other side. Her breathing soft and steady, one would think that she is sleeping. Well, the reality is--aside from being awake--if they look closer, her expression was dismal, sad, even. She was grateful to Heero for promising her not to destroy Duo or Lunala, but… what if Heero would have to do it because they had no other choice? Remilia’s more than certain that the others would think the same, but there was something else that was biting at her ever since she and Heero went back into the Ultra Wormhole they came from. This one, tiny little thing… It was fear. Fear that either Duo or Lunala would not make it alive. That was why she looks so despondent. This sensation, this feeling made her feel hopeless; she was worried that her efforts to help would be all for nothing.

A single tear streamed down from her left eye and managed to drop into Heero’s new hoodie. Thankfully, he fails to notice, as he was too busy maneuvering Wing Gundam away from the gravitational pulls of the different wormholes. All Remilia wanted more than anything was both Duo and Lunala to be alright.

The pink-haired Pokèmon Trainer let out a soft exhale that she felt was hurting her chest (possibly the after-effects of being in the Ultra Deep Sea for too long). Despite this, she fought the urge to cry. She can’t afford to waste any more time doing so. She’s done with being weak.

Unbeknownst to her, Heero managed to hear her soft exhale, and asked, “Are you all right?”

The Wing pilot’s speaking suddenly made Remilia jump a little in his lap. She furiously wiped away any evidence of her tears leaking from her eyes, and simply looked at him, her face flushing in embarrassment.

Heero stared at her intently, that unusually soft and gentle expression of his just making her want to cry again ( _ Damn him!  _ was all Remilia could think at the moment). “I promised you to save Duo and Lunala, Remilia. I fully intend to make true that promise.”

“I-I know that, but..” Remilia was saying, but stopped herself. 

“I don’t make promises I’m incapable of keeping.”

Remilia resigned herself by laying her head back down on Heero’s crook. With what Heero had said… She’s not sure if this was supposed to put her mind at ease. She’s well aware of Heero’s insane skills as a Gundam pilot, and yet… It just seems that no matter what she thinks, no matter how much Heero tries to assure and comfort her in the situation they're in, uneasiness would still linger within her.

A minor alarm in Wing Zero’s cockpit controls started to blare, startling Remilia once again. Managing to quash her unpleasant feelings, she asked Heero, “Do you think it might be the others?”

Heero briefly looked at the monitors. “Looks that way; it also looks like they got their Gundams as well.”

White electric streaks in four different areas flashed and zipped, which would later spread out and four different Gundams emerged from them. The first is a forest green and turquoise Gundam with two Gatling guns on each of its arms, the second a sky blue and gray with scarlet accents, and a third that’s a different shade of green from the first armed with what appears to be yellow stag crushers similar to those of a Vikavolt.

“We all made it okay~!” She heard Hau over the intercom. “Without any motion sickness to boot!”

“Or wormhole travel sickness,” Trowa pitched in.

“Trowa; Quatre; Wufei,” Heero greeted them. “You retrieved your other Gundams, with or without any trouble?”

“We did,” Quatre replied sheepishly. 

“The Ultra Beasts in whatever dimension each of us landed into more or less attacked us,” Trowa confessed. “Then again, we’ve technically invaded their territory, so it would be somewhat inaccurate to say that we were surprised.”

“You said that the Ultra Beasts attacked you guys?” Remilia asked them.

“Except for us,” Plumeria answered. “We only managed to stay out of their way and out of their sight.”

“Yeah, so did we, in the dimension Remilia and I went into,” Heero shared.

“Neither one of you killed any of them, did you?” Remilia asked next, her voice coated with concern.

Hau opened his mouth to answer, but Trowa beat him to it. “We made sure not to kill them, don’t worry.” Hau looked a little nervously at him. Luckily for him, Remilia didn’t even notice. 

“Okay, so now that we’ve found our Gundams and all,” Wufei began to ask. “What should we do next? Aside travelling through the Ultra Wormhole?”

“First, we need to find an exit point,” Remilia began to explain to the whole group. “These exit points typically have rings on them along with a gravitational pull. Some exit points have no rings at all, so they don’t have any gravitational pulls, as I’ve only recently discovered. The more rings there are, the stronger the gravitational pulls will be.”

“How many of these rings would these wormhole exit points have?” Quatre inquired. “The last thing we need to have one of us get accidentally caught within their range and risk being pulled in through them.”

“The amount of rings I see whenever I go through the wormhole with Nebby are up to three,” Remilia replied. “Three rings means a wormhole has the maximum possible gravitational pull.”

“So we would still get sucked in,” Wufei said bitterly.

“Not exactly. It only means that your chances of being ensnared only increases the more rings there are. So my advice to all of you guys would be to keep your Gundams in a neutral axis, or whatever you call it, at all times.”

“Pffft. Easier said than done.”

“Wufei’s right, pinkie!” Guzma pitched in. “Even if I hold tight on Albert’s finger--”

“Nataku!” Wufei shouted to correct him.

“Or Altron…” Plumeria corrected further (which earned her a nasty look from Wufei). “Whatever.”

“Altron-slash- _ Nataku’s _ finger,” Guzma continued. “I could still be yanked away no matter what this giant robot does!”

“Then I suggest you change your position, Guzma, and ride on Altron’s finger like it’s a Dratini,” Remilia answered sardonically.

Guzma grumbled for a little bit before sitting down and wrapping his arms and legs around Altron Gundam’s middle finger. 

“How much farther do we have to travel?” Trowa asked.

“To be honest, I’m not sure,” Remilia answered.

“Last time I checked, you’re supposed to be expert, Remilia,” said Wufei sarcastically.

The pink-haired Trainer Glared at him. “Last time I checked, you never learned to mind your damn pie hole!”

“You know what?!”

“You two, stop arguing!” Quatre raised his voice to a parental level. “For one thing, Remilia’s only known about the Ultra Wormholes, and Ultra Space for that matter, for a short time, so we’re just relying on what she currently knows. For another, there’s no way we can go back to Alola and Aether Paradise with our Gundams to get more info from Ms. Wicke about them, so we’re only taking what we’re getting from her!”

“Actually, the Aether Foundation’s no more of an expert than I am,” said Remilia. “So we’re both still new at this.”

“That being said, Wufei, the least can do is trust her.”

Wufei growled in response, but is no longer in the mood to bicker with Remilia or Quatre.

“I’m picking up an unusually strong energy reading from Zero,” Heero spoke up.

Remilia looked at one of the sensor monitors Heero was looking at previously. “It’s gotta be a rather strong Ultra Wormhole than either any of us has seen.”

“Or it might be something else entirely,” said Wufei scornfully.

“That’s also true.”

“Can’t your Gundams pinpoint the source of the strong energy signals?” Gladion asked the pilots.”

“We don’t know, actually,” Quatre replied.

“And Wufei, I’d better not hear anymore complaints from you,” Remilia warned the Altron pilot, using a tone one would use to discipline a perpetually naughty child.

“I never said a word,” the latter replied monotonously.

“That quip aside,” Trowa spoke after a while. “Our Gundams are capable of pinpointing a strong signature from a single source, or many all at once. In the case of the Ultra Wormholes, it could be any one of the following: Duo’s Gundam, an Ultra Wormhole with the strongest gravitational pull, or a significantly powerful Ultra Beast.”

Everybody fell silent in thought, hoping even, that one of these theories Trowa listed out are true. If Duo’s Gundam is through one of these Ultra Wormholes, then Duo and Lunala has got to be there with it. They also prayed that Necrozma didn’t consume Duo and Lunala completely, and if on the off-chance they are…

Heero snapped out of his own thoughts when Wing Zero let out a “wheep-wheep-wheep” sound of increasing pitch, stopping only after it reached the highest possible pitch frequency. He only looked straight ahead, and briefly saw a white wormhole with no rings visible; however, it has the highest energy reading out of the other Ultra Wormholes.

“It’s right there in front of us,” he said to the group. “This one doesn’t have any rings.”

“Really?” asked Hau in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“I’m getting a very intense energy signature emanating from it. I’m sure the same goes for the rest of you just now.”

“I got it just now,” said Trowa in confirmation.

“Me, too,” Quatre said as well.

“So did I,” Wufei said last.

Heero started to glow and sparkle with golden light the moment everyone got the same intense energy readings coming from the ring-less wormhole. He’s also feeling a slight magnetic pull coming from there.

_ “Hikari…”  _ Heero called out in his mind.  _ “I’m sure you’re feeling this as well…” _

_ “Yes…”  _ Hikari echoed.  _ “Necrozma’s soul is likely calling out.” _

_ “I will not let you be fused with it… even if Phyco and Soliera commands us all to.” _

_ “I will not allow to have both of your bodies and minds destroyed as well.” _

All of the Gundam pilots gathered around the white Ultra Wormhole where the energy reading is the strongest. Everybody--the Pokèmon Trainers included--took a deep breath, in an attempt to erase any doubt and hesitation and entered through there, disappearing in a bright flash of white light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~???~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

All of the Gundams emerged from the white Ultra Wormhole and into a whole different dimension than the ones they’ve been into. This space is rainbow-colored, with star clusters sprinkling here and there, and there are rocky platforms of varying sizes scattered around. Aside from the intensely strong energy signature, there seems to be nothing else in this mysterious new dimension. Unless, one of them would speculate, that there might be “noise,” due to how haphazardly arranged this space is. 

“It’s kinda quiet,” Hau mused.

“I think Heero’s body would say otherwise,” Remilia answered him. “He’s Twilight-sparkling like there’s no tomorrow.”

Trowa snickered lightly at that comment.  _ It does definitely sound like what Duo would say. _

_ “Duo, Necrozma, and Lunala are somewhere close in this dimension,”  _ Hikari informed Heero psychically, with Heero relaying the information to the rest of the group.

“By best guess is that those three might be dead ahead,” said Plumeria.

“There’s only one way to find out,” said Quatre rather forebodingly, which understandably made Remilia shiver a little.

Heero suddenly notices a harsh, bluish-white glow at a great distance from the Gundam group. Focusing a little harder, he also observed that there are swirls surrounding it, flying and whipping with every second passing. “Let’s go.” Remilia swallowed at the words spoken, but she forced herself to be brave. As they get closer to the target, their worst fears had come true.

♫♩*~Final Fantasy IX - Sword of Doubt~*♫♩

In front of them was Gundam Deathscythe Hell--recognizable from its black and red color scheme and enormous bat wings--kneeling on the rock platform surrounded by white light and white streaks surrounding it. Its entire body was transforming into a glossy dark purple color with white static sparkles, with black crystals growing all over the place, but otherwise in proportion with Deathscythe’s humanoid anatomy. Its normal mechanical hands transformed into claws, its facial plating developed into a mouth with sharp teeth, and a black crystal mask settled itself over its visor area, changing its normal glowing green eyes into blood-red underneath the crystal planes, with the addition of curved devil-horns. 

Its bat-like wings also developed black crystals similar to the ones Lunala had while possessed by Necrozma. It also gained new wings in a slightly different shape; while Deathscythe’s wings are made of metal, these additional set of wings bear a resemblance to Lunala’s. The difference is that these new wings look a little more demonic than the real thing, although everything else about them remains the same.

Deathscythe Hell raised its head and opened its new “mouth”--revealing a dark violet void with a black tongue--and let out an eerie alien/mechanical/beastly howl that could make even the most stoic Mudsdale tremble in fear upon hearing it.

The others--Remilia, especially--could only look on in horror at the transformation they had just witnessed. The outcome was worse than they had imagined. Not only did Necrozma fuse with Lunala, but with Gundam Deathscythe Hell as well. But, what about Duo? Is he still here with them? Or did he suffer an even worse outcome than those three?

“Wha… what the heck is  _ that _ thing?” Hau inquired fearfully.

“Gundam Deathscythe Hell…” Quatre replied, not actually knowing what in the world he had just witnessed (and he knows full well that the others do feel the same).

“This Necrozma thing…  _ fused _ with it?” asked Gladion, shock evident on his face.

“And also with Lunala…” Remilia finished.

“Is Duo… Is he even…?” Quatre started to ask, but too afraid to finish the question.

“That’s not something we’re obligated to answer, unfortunately,” a female voice said.

The Sandrock pilot felt a chill run down through his spine as soon as he heard that.  _ It… it can’t be… _

All the Gundams turned their heads towards the two adversaries they only recently became familiar with, but at the same time, did not want to encounter again. It was Phyco and Soliera, standing on one of the rocky platforms adjacent to them. Soliera had her arms crossed and folded while Phyco had placed his hands behind his lower back. Both of them had that familiar condescending yet ruthless atmosphere, the same atmosphere they had when they had their first scuffle with Quatre back on Akala Island.

“You…?!” Quatre called out to them.

“Bastards!” Wufei shouted. “Did you follow us all the way into Ultra Space?!”

“Well, what do you think?” Soliera coldly asked in response. 

“Our reason for following you all the way to Aether Paradise was to retrieve the first half of the Blinding One so that it can fuse with the other half,” Phyco explained. “Unfortunately, you lot have made things unnecessarily difficult for us.”

Realization suddenly dawned on Remilia as she listened to them both. “Wait, you guys were on the purple Pokèmon while we were luring Duo to the Altar of Light on Poni Island!” 

“And unfortunately for you guys, Remi’s the one who noticed you!” Hau pitched in.

“That still doesn’t explain how those two managed to follow us through the Ultra Wormhole,” Trowa said with doubt.

“Yeah, as far as we know the Ultra Wormhole closed behind us!”

“You would think so, but I believe all of you have forgotten one little thing about these Ultra Wormholes,” Soliera replied. “Particularly the area where they open in.”

Remilia straightened her pink-brown brows, trying to figure out what Soliera meant by that. Then her brows raised up and her eyes widened with a soft gasp.

“That’s right, young lady,” said Soliera. “When an Ultra Wormhole opens, it overflows with the energy indistinguishable from the energy a creature--whether it’s an Ultra Beast or a Pokèmon, or any other living being--becomes enveloped in.”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Gladion spat out.

“When an Ultra Wormhole closes,” Soliera continued, ignoring Gladion’s “rude” interruption. “It leaves behind residue of the energy it had emitted while open. However long the wormhole remains closed, the leftover energy never dissipates. Captain Phyco and I used a device to kickstart the energy that has been used to reopen the Ultra Wormhole…”

“And follow us all the way to even this dimension, despite the fact that the nine of us went to different places in Ultra Space,” Quatre finished, realization finally dawning on him. His skin started to tingle with developing rage. If those two were shady before, then they managed to be bad, if not worse than they once were.

“Precisely,” Phyco confirmed as he used his fingers to twirl his violet mustache.

“So you managed follow us all the way to this dimension, given that you’ve given both Duo and Quatre hell,” said Gladion. “Since you two are so damn smart, why did Lunala--or Necrozma, rather--fuse with Gundam Deathscythe Hell, huh?”

“Necrozma craves for a body,” Heero finally said.

Remilia looked at him. “Meaning what, exactly?”

“He means that Necrozma, the Blinding One, needs a living body in order to stay within the dimension it’s currently in,” Phyco explained.

“The same might-- No, it definitely is the same with Hikari when she reincarnated into Heero…” Trowa said under his breath.

“Then it might mean that Necrozma’s soul is more capable of sentience than we previously thought,” Wufei mused aloud.  _ More capable than Hikari once was, I might add. _

“What about the case of Necrozma/Lunala fusing with that Gundam?” asked Plumeria. “What does that even do in this grand scheme of things?”

“Remember,” Trowa replied. “Duo absorbed some of Necrozma’s light from Heero while under Necrozma’s soul’s influence. It also fused with Lunala; the only correlation is that Necrozma hungers for light, no matter the source.”

“Except that with, um…” Gladion briefly bit his lower lip. “Actually, what power source does your Gundams run on?”

“All mobile suits, including the Gundams, run on a nuclear-powered engine,” Quatre answered.

“Right, okay.”

“Even if that were the case,” Remilia interrupted. “I’m very doubtful Necrozma would absorb some sort of light procured from nuclear power. Getting artificial light for energy is like drinking water; nourishing, but not very good for energy consumption or usage.”

“I was going to say, in layman’s terms, the more light it absorbs, the more powerful it would get. And by that, I was referring to natural light.”

“Yeah, but look at the state it’s in now,” Quatre pitched in. “It did absorb some of the light Heero had, and it possessed Lunala, but even with Lunala’s light, which has more in amount than what Heero had lost, it still wouldn’t even be as powerful as what we might be thinking at the moment.”

“So in other words,” said Trowa, one half of his face darkening slightly. “Necrozma might be compensating with something for the abysmal amount of light it absorbed. And I mean more than just taking over Deathscythe Hell.”

Everybody fell silent in thought. “Wait,” Remilia spoke after a few seconds of thinking. “Does that mean Necrozma’s a Psychic-type?”

“Definitely seems that way,” Wufei said with no reluctance to agreement.

“A very powerful Psychic-type to boot,” said Gladion.

“And with Lunala being fused with Necrozma, it might mean a huge boost to its psychic power,” Remilia continued to say her realization. “With this amount of psychic power, it’s practically enough to take over Deathscythe Hell’s computer system, maybe even change its physical appearance as well.”

“Hmph.” Soliera made a small smirk. “You people are a lot smarter than you put off.”

“As much as we appreciate the compliment,” Quatre replied with disdain. “I don’t believe it’s right for you to flatter us like that.”

“And now that boy here,” Phyco directed towards Wing Gundam Zero. “The one in the robot with the feathered wings.”

“You’re  _ still _ that freaking dead set on Heero?” Gladion asked in half-disbelief. “Would it kill you guys just to give up?”

“Perhaps we weren’t terribly clear with our motives. The reason why we want that Heero boy and the other--the one you call Duo--is to make a new Blinding One.”

“Did you two honestly think that we didn’t even know what your true intentions are?” Quatre asked. “With regards to Heero and Duo?”

Phyco directed his head to Sandrock in suspicion. “What exactly do you mean?”

“In case you scumboats didn’t even realize,” Wufei added. “Hikari spoke to Heero in his dreams about you, including your people, your ancestors, and your home dimension.”

“We came more than to save Duo and Lunala from Necrozma,” Gladion added next. “We also came to stop you from reaching your goal.”

“We could care less if you’re well-intentioned or not,” Remilia said last. “You’ve made a rather grave mistake of endangering Duo and Lunala’s lives.”

No sooner did Remilia say her short piece that the Necrozma-possessed Deathscythe Hell let out another howl and slowly stood itself upright, its footing a little awkward. Heero felt a slightly stronger magnetic pull than last time, but he was currently resisting against it, still glowing and sparkling awhile. He briefly wondered if Hikari was feeling the same magnetic pull as he was, and putting up the same resistance as well.

“The Blinding One’s cries are becoming more desperate,” Phyco said. “Even with the light of Lunala absorbed, it still has not yet reached its full power yet.”

“Please, the one in the feather-winged robot,” Soliera said to Heero. “Become one with the one you call Duo. Become one with the Blinding One. You may consider it an act of goodwill to them both if you do not want to see them suffer for any longer.”

“I refuse,” Heero said flatly.

Phyco and Soliera looked dumbfounded.

“Anybody who toys with me, or my emotions, is my enemy.”

“I could not have said it any better myself, Heero,” Gladion said in agreement.

“If you refuse,” Soliera said in a warning tone. “We will have you unite with Necrozma by force.”

“Pffft. We would like to see ya try, lady!” Guzma said haughtily.

“We’ll make you dishonorable scum pay for what you did!” Wufei yelled, more angry than ever at the injustices Phyco and Soliera had committed not just to Duo and Lunala, but for the rest of Alola (regardless if they meant it for the latter or not).

“That being said,” said Plumiera. “Anybody got a plan here, aside from attempting to rescue Duo and Lunala?”

Remilia lowered her head in thought. A small part of her thinks that Duo might be somewhere in this Deathscythe-Necrozma fusion… There is a good chance that she would be right.

After a couple moments of thinking, she raised her head up. “Duo might be somewhere in there, and I’m not talking about his consciousness.”

“What are you going on about?” Wufei asked her skeptically.

“He could be physically there, possibly in Deathscythe’s cockpit.”

“And how exactly are we going to get his cockpit open?” Plumeria inquired with equal skepticism.

“Do we have to blast it open or something?” Guzma pitched in.

“No we’re not, because it might kill him,” Quatre chastised.

“What do you guys have on your Gundams?” Remilia asked the group. “Aside from your, um…” She twirled her hand, looking for the best term to use. “Signature weapons, or whatever you wanna call them?”

It took the others a few seconds to understand what their Pokèmon Trainer friend means by that. “Oh, you mean our vulcan guns?” Quatre asked in confirmation.

“Yeah, those.”

“Not all of the Gundams have vulcans, actually,” Trowa explained accurately. “A couple of us have small machine guns stored into their clavicles.”

“Great. We can use those to distract Necrozma,” Remilia proposed.

“Whoa whoa wait,” Hau interjected. “‘Distract?’”

“Yeah, are you nuts?!” Guzma said in surprise.

“Would you two just let me finish?!” she shouted at them.

Both Guzma and Hau complied, opting to remain silent for the rest of Remilia’s plan.

“We can use the Gundams’ vulcans and machine guns to distract Necrozma,” the pink-haired Trainer continued. “With Hau’s Noivern and Pucker, my Toucannon, I can fly up to Deathscythe Hell’s cockpit and try to open it up with Pucker’s Beak Blast. Hau, Noivern has learned Iron Tail sometime ago, right?”

“Yeah,” replied Hau.

“I can use Noivern’s Iron Tail combined with Pucker’s Beak Blast to get the cockpit hatch open and retrieve Duo from there.”

“What about Phyco and Soliera?” Wufei asked.

“Guzma, Plumeria, Gladion and Hau will take care of them,” Remilia replied.

“Huh? Us?” asked Hau in mild shock.

“Remilia…” Gladion began to say. “I think getting Duo out of his cockpit would be a faster job if I help you out with this.”

Remilia stared at her friend with wide eyes. “Really?”

He let out a small smile. “It’s my way of saying thanks for keeping up the Aether Foundation’s public image after what that woman did a few weeks ago.”

Remilia relaxed in understanding. Ever since the Ultra Beast incident, rumors had been spreading that the Aether Foundation was behind it, plus the fact that Team Skull takes the stolen Pokèmon there for that bitch queen’s “collection.” As much as she didn’t want to think about the rumors… that time… she still does have some faith in the Aether Foundation for protecting the hurt or endangered Pokèmon. That’s why she was working hard to not let Aether’s image become tainted, and help people, the Pokèmon Trainers especially, restore their faith in Aether Paradise. And besides, what Gladion said about making the job of saving Duo easier and faster… The more she thinks about it, the more she thinks he’s right about it.

“Thanks back, Gladion,” Remilia said to him, smiling as well.

“It’s settled then,” said Quatre, who’s in full agreement of Remilia’s plan. “We’ll have to go with Remilia’s plan.”

Everybody else--including Wufei, despite his skeptical doubts--all complied with Quatre’s response in agreement, especially with Remilia’s plan of action.

Heero opened up Wing Zero’s cockpit hatch so that Remilia can step out and walk onto its hand. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei did the same thing with Hau, Gladion and Plumeria, with the latter woman stepping onto Altron’s hand where Guzma was standing. Both the Gundam pilots closed their hatches after, but not before wishing them luck.

Phyco and Soliera noticed the movements above. “So you have opted to oppose us,” Phyco became the first to say. “If you choose to fight against us, then we will not be holding back.”

Both of them took out their strange blue Pokè Balls and released their Pokèmon. Soliera, her Naganadel; Phyco’s Pokèmon just released is the same black able creature Wufei, Plumeria and Guzma saw back in the world they were previously in.

Meanwhile, Remilia opens up her Gorebyss-themed fanny pack and produced a Pokè Ball with a light blue feather sticker on top of it. She opened up the ball, out out released a giant toucan creature that seems to reach up to Remilia’s neck in height, and it hopped onto Wing Zero’s index finger, almost comparable to a little hummingbird with the angel-winged Gundam’s size. Hau also released his Noivern, who also nestled onto Heavyarms’ pinky finger with its wings still spread. Gladion released Silvally--who still has the Flying memory installed--who carefully settled itself to watch its footing in the palm of Sandrock’s hand and Plumeria became the last to release her Gengar, who floated behind her and Guzma. 

Gladion climbed on top of Silvally while Hau did the same on Noivern, who hopped from Heavyarms’ pinky to its extended index finger. Gengar simply gathered Plumeria and Guzma in her arms.

Necrozma, meanwhile, in its new fused form, let out yet another alien/mechanical roar, which admittedly sent chills down the group’s spines--but they refused to let their wills and nerves be shaken. They’re going to save Duo and Lunala no matter what. And, if possible, they could save Necrozma from the fate of being fused with Heero as well.

♫♩*~2nd Super Robot Wars OG - CUSTOS~*♫♩

Swallowing once more, Remilia braced herself. “Let’s go!”

Noivern became the first to take flight off of Heavyarms’ hand, with Gengar carrying Guzma and Plumeria to the rock platform Phyco and Soliera were standing on, along with their Ultra Beast Pokèmon. Both of them dropped their respective Trainers off quickly, while Gengar remained behind and Guzma sent out his ace, Golisopod. Noivern swiftly flew towards Wing Gundam Zero, where Remilia was standing on one of hits hands, and Remilia jumped onto its back as Pucker and Silvally took flight from Wing Zero and Gundam Heavyarms.

As they started to fly towards Necrozma, Necrozma produced two laser scythes similar to the one Gundam Deathscythe Hell had, except that they’re black instead of gray and the laser blades an indigo color instead of bright green. Just as it was about to charge at the three after letting out a roar, the Gundam pilots took this cue and started firing their vulcan cannons at it, careful not to accidentally hit Pucker, Noivern and Silvally.

Remilia commanded Noivern to use Iron Tail and Pucker Brick Break while Gladion commands Silvally to use Crush Claw. All three of those moves targeted Deathscythe Hell’s cockpit hatch at once, though it only left a big pale scratch on the new glossy black-violet armor. Deciding that it’s better than nothing, both Pokèmon Trainers decided to try again with the same attacks in hopes of trying to break the glossy finish--except that with Pucker, instead of Remilia commanding him to use Brick Break again, she ordered him to use Beak Blast to give both Noivern and Silvally more leverage in breaking the cockpit hatch open.

Pucker, Noivern and Silvally immediately moved away as soon as Necrozma moved before they could initiate the attack, however, presumably to attack. Necrozma howls as it prepared its two scythes and charged at the rest of the Gundams, Wing Gundam Zero in particular. 

Unfortunately for Necrozma, Heero foresaw this and ceased firing the clavicle machine guns and Wing Zero took out its green beam saber in order to defend itself. Necrozma attempted to slash at Wing Zero with one of its scythes, but the angel-winged Gundam dodged the attack and tried to go for the offensive. However, Necrozma was able to defend itself from Wing Zero’s beam sword with its two scythes, the physical contact creating electric streaks in all directions. 

A gold and red stag suddenly appeared and struck at Necrozma, which let out a yelp upon contact and made Wing Zero move a distance away from it. Altron Gundam sped towards ti and attacked it some more with its two gold stags.

“Wufei…?” Heero asked curiously.

“I guess I was almost too late,” Wufei said as soon as his image appeared on the side monitor. “If those scythes came into contact with you…”

“Thanks, Wufei. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry yourself over it, Heero.” Wufei then proceeded to direct the gold stags to each of Deathscythe’s arms in an effort to drag it back towards Remilia, Gladion and their Pokèmon and also away from Wing Gundam Zero and Heero.

However, this only worked to enrage Necrozma even further as it tried to wriggle free of Altron Gundam’s grip.

“Wufei, bring it here!” Remilia shouted at him.

Wufei swung Altron’s stag claws and released Necrozma, then Altron released another barrage of vulcan beams in order to distract it so that Remilia and Gladion could move in for the attack. Noivern with Iron Tail, Silvally with Crush Claw, and Pucker with Beak Blast. With these attacked combined, the glossy finish started to chip away. 

Necrozma started to move again to attack any one of the Gundams, but Gladion and Pucker was able to catch up and repeated the use of their Crush Claw and Beak Blast at the cockpit hatch. 

After a few more attempts, the glossy armor was successfully chipped away leaving the original gray-colored hatch exposed, give or take a couple dents. Actually, a couple dents on the cockpitch hatch is signified as a good thing; they were getting closer to opening it by force, and soon, Duo will be rescued.

Suddenly, Necrozma suddenly jolted back and let out an alien scream, like it was hit by something and it felt the impact of it. Silvally and Noivern quickly moved out of the way to what had hit it. Deathscythe lost its hand and lower arm as well as part of its wings, the edges where it had been cut glowing a bright white. 

Remilia very briefly felt sorry for Necrozma, even Lunala, but she pushed those feelings of guilt to the back of her head and had Noivern and Pucker use Iron Tail and Beak Blast at Deathscythe’s cockpit hatch yet again with Silvally joining in with its usual Crush Claw.

The cockpit hatch looks more bent and dent the more the Flying-type Pokèmon assaulted it with their combined efforts as well as their masters’. Just when the hatch doors looked loose enough to be pried open, Remilia shouted at Gladion to do the deed with Silvally while commanding Pucker to do the same with his enormous monochrome beak.

Silvally used its insect-like claws to grab hold of the bent-and-dent cockpit hatch while Pucker did the same with his beak. Flapping both of their wings furiously, they started to pull at the hatch doors, the metal creaking and whining with every tug they make. The only times when they would let go was Necrozma moving in to attack the Gundams, but they always grab hold again to pull more on the cockpit hatch, with Remilia following along with the two (only once did she have Noivern use Iron Tail to give them a little push).

As soon as one half of the topmost doors were pulled off, Silvally and Pucker went to work on pulling the rest of it away, maybe to the other side and retrieve Duo from within. Necrozma jerked once, causing Pucker to lose his grip on the hatch door, and with Silvally, inadvertently ripping the door away with its green insect claws.

Noivern flew Remilia to the now-open cockpit and she peered inside to see if Duo is okay. As soon as she did, she could almost feel her heart leap up to her throat.

Duo was half-naked, hair undone, completely covered in some sort of glossy black substance. He looked as if he was being absorbed--or held captive--by rougher black crystals extending to the middle of his hips and to his lower arms.

Necrozma suddenly jerked again, but Remilia was able to jump from Noivern to the edge of the exposed cockpit, caring very little if the black crystals jabbed at her skin as soon as her hands grabbed it. She was able to hoist herself up and onto the cockpit’s floor. She swiftly zipped open her fanny pack and pulled out a Pokè Ball--called a Quick Ball from the yellow-and-blue circle patterns--and released an icy blue pangolin-like creature with icicle spikes and long claws, known as an Alolan Sandslash, whom Remilia nicknamed Emil.

“Remilia!” She heard Gladion shout her name. “How’s Duo looking here?”

“We gotta free him from his cockpit, and maybe his state!” Remilia replied back. “Somehow…!”

Gladion was initially shocked at first at Duo’s current crystallized state, but decided to help Remilia out anyway. He unzipped his front pocket and pulled out an Ultra Ball, releasing his Midnight Form Lycanroc. Remilia summoned Pucker back into his Pokè Ball awhile. Gladion commanded Lycanroc to use Shadow Claw continuously while Remilia commanded Emil to use his long claws to chip away as much as the surrounding black crystals as possible extract Duo out of his cockpit, and also try to peel away the black crystal film after.

Both Pokèmon went to work at chipping away at the black crystals, which is an easier job than Remilia had previously thought, as evidently seen with the shards being easily chipped away. Every time Necrozma would move, both Pokèmon would stop and grab hold of Duo’s frozen arms while Remilia did the same with his head to keep them from losing their footing and falling out. The process would continue until Remilia manages to get his free arm out, then the other, and finally his hips. Both Lycanroc and Emil wasted no time in chipping away at the black crystals until some skin is revealed, and Noivern would come in and grab hold of Duo’s shoulders in order to pull him out of the cockpit once Lycanroc and Emil were done. The more they dig and chip deep, the easier it was becoming for Noivern to physically pull Duo out of his imprisoned state.

Just as Duo was ready to be pulled out completely, Necrozma jerked away again. The movement was so sudden that Noivern lost hold of Duo--who was almost completely out of the crystallized cockpit--and Remilia, Lycanroc, and Emil lost their footing, causing them to fall out, and Duo along with them. Noivern dived down to rescue Duo and Remilia while Silvally--as Gladion had heard her yelp--did the same to Lycanroc and Emil. 

Noivern was able to grab Remilia by her tank top and Duo his ankle and flew to the rocky platform where Guzma, Plumeria and Hau (with Golisopod, a new Pokèmon called Nidoqueen and Incineroar) were still battling against Phyco and Soliera (with Soliera’s Pheromosa and another Ultra Beast, which is small and white and looking like paper which Remilia recognized as Kartana because of the information given to her by Looker and Anabel from the International Police), and landed them out of the firing zone. As Remilia had laid Duo down to the dirt ground, Noivern went back to join its Trainer in battling against Phyco and Soliera’s Ultra Beast Pokèmon.

“Duo?” Remilia asked a little fearfully as she touched whatever part of his body was crystallized.

Gladion touched his skin, which he noted was a little paler than last time. “His skin’s cold to the touch.”

“We still need to get rid of that crystal layer that’s coating him, though!”

“Before we do that, though, we need to let the others know that Duo’s been extracted.”

“Uh, r-right!”

Quatre grunted as he shoved Necrozma away from Wing Zero with his snake-patterned shield. “You guys able to get Duo out of there?” he asked them through the intercom.

“Yeah, we did,” Remilia confirmed. “We’re now working on getting rid of the crystal substance coating his skin and hair.”

“All right, now that Duo’s been extracted from Deathscythe Hell’s cockpit,” Wufei began stating his suggestion as he activated his double-ended beam trident. “Let’s go and destroy this thing already!”

“Wait,” Heero curbed Wufei’s enthusiasm.

“Uh?” the Altron pilot looked at him dumbfoundedly. “What are you saying, Heero?”

“Let me handle this. The rest of you find a platform to land on.”

“What the  _ fuck _ are you saying, Heero!? This is our one chance, it--”

“Wufei,” Quatre interrupted him. “I think we should leave this to Heero on this one. And besides, Necrozma should be weakened thanks to Heero’s efforts in cutting its arm and part of its wings off. I believe he might be onto something.”

Wufei growled but turned off his thermal trident. He directed Altron to the nearest rock platform with Sandrock and Heavyarms following.

_ “Hikari… now’s our chance,”  _ Heero mentally called out to its name.

Hikari’s glowing womanly form appeared before him.  _ “I am there. I’ll lend you my power, Heero…” _

  
  


♫♩*~Two-Mix - Rhythm Emotion~*♫♩

  
  


Heero nodded in response, and slowly closed his eyes. He glowed an even brighter gold, and even harsher sparkles flowed throughout his body. Hikari snaked its hands to the controls where Heero’s hands gripped and laid them there. With all of its psychic power, it was able to psychically override the built-in ZERO system, the visual representing a glowing blue orb with red rings surrounding it changing into a glowing rainbow dragon’s eye complete with a slit pupil.

_ I can feel this energy…  _ Heero thought with tranquility.  _ Flowing through me… and into the Gundam… _

Outside, Wing Gundam Zero became enveloped in a harsly glowing gold light and surrounded by sparkles, almost obscuring its form. The others--the Gundam pilots, the Pokèmon Trainers, and even Phyco and Soliera, from their strong aura readings they’re getting on their visors--witnessed Wing Gundam being bathed in a beautiful, wondrous golden light.

“Wha… what’s going on?” Quatre asked breathlessly.

Wing Zero brought its main wings to cloak its front. In this golden light, golden crystals began to sprout from its feet, legs, knees, arms, elbows, and even its head and V-fins. A new set of feathery wings began to grow in the form of a silhouette, as well as a feathery dragon tail.

The transformation done, Wing Zero spread its main wings outward, illusions of golden feathers scattering and then disappearing. The golden-white glow dissipated, revealing Wing Zero’s almost brand new form: it has gained a new cream-gold color scheme, surrounded by a bright rainbow aura, with gold crystals placed on its limbs and appendages, especially the skirt armor. The feathery tail also has smaller gold crystals placed around it. The orb that normally glows green now glows rainbow, looking as if it was moving slightly.

Remilia stopped getting the black crystal coating off of Duo’s unconscious body, some of which she and Gladion were able to get off with Emil, Silvally and Lycanroc’s help, and stood up and slowly took a few paces away from them, as if in a trance.  _ What is this…?? _

“Necrozma,” Heero (now completely enveloped in a golden glow and sparkles and eyes becoming draconic and glowing a bright rainbow) and Hikari spoke in synchronized unison. “You have stolen the light of Alola and the Moone Pokèmon Lunala in order to gain back the strength you have had lost. If I am being honest, I would not fault you for that, nor would I fault you for becoming a savage beast from what the ancient Megalopians had done to you… to us.

“Now… as the Blinding One, the god of light that the ancient Megalopians worship me as such, I will perform my duty and bring all of Alola’s light back… and and bring an end to your suffering. Though I do not imagine that you will go down without a fight.”

Necrozma responded with a howl, its form becoming a little limp once done.

Hikari understood what that howl meant. This howl was a combination of anger, suffering and misery. “Very well then, Necrozma… let’s finish this.”

Wing Gundam Zero and Necrozma charged at each other, their beam weapons at the ready. Necrozma swung its lone beam scythe with its only remaining arm, but Wing Zero was able to block it with the green laser blade and knee it in the torso. Necrozma charged at it again, but Wing Zero slashed half of its face with its beam sword, the endoskeleton and a little bit of circuitry becoming exposed. Necrozma howled in intense pain at this action.

Meanwhile, the Gundam pilots and Pokèmon Trainers watched the battle unfold with both awestruck and surprised expressions on their faces; Phyco and Soliera especially.

“That boy…” Soliera began to say. “Did he just unleash Necrozma’s light on his own free will?”

Before her superior can answer, a Sludge Bomb went off, attacking both of their current Ultra Beast Pokèmon. Both of them turned sharply at Guzma’s Golisopod, Plumeria’s Nidoqueen and Hau’s Incineroar. 

“Your guard’s down!” Plumeria shouted at them. “Your other threat is us, remember?”

Soliera growled at her. “Pheromosa, Lunge!”

“Leaf Blade, Kartana!” Phyco shouted at his Pokèmon.

Both the Ultra Beast Pokèmon did as their masters commanded them to, but they were stopped by Golisopod and Incineroar. The Hard Scale and Heel Pokèmon each attacked with Liquidation and Throat Chop, doing some heavy damage to Pheromosa and Kartana both.

“Your Naganadel and Xurkitree put up more of a fun fight than these low-brow beasts!” Guzma exclaimed.

Soliera growled again, and she and Phyco commanded their Ultra Beast Pokèmon to attack again, with Hau, Guzma and Plumeria doing the same to their respective current Pokèmon.

“Remilia!” Gladion called out to his friend meanwhile. “Help me get rid of the stuff on Duo, will you?!”

Remilia turned to Gladion as soon as he called her name. The entire time prior, she watched the battle between Wing Gundam Zero and Necrozma, with her internally musing on how amazing Wing Zero looked in this new form. It also looked like Wing Zero was gaining the upper hand. Maybe Necrozma’s light is also a Psychic-type? “Huh? Oh, okay.”

She jogged back to Gladion, Lycanroc, Silvally and Emil, who was still working on chipping away the black crystal layering from Duo’s naked body. Thankfully, they were almost done, so they should have no problem finishing this in no time, hopefully to coincide with Necrozma’s defeat at Wing Zero’s hands.

Meanwhile, up in the air, Necrozma cried out as it was held back by one of Wing Zero’s knees. Necrozma was already weakened beforehand, and weakened even more when it wasn’t able to get its human victim’s life force, despite the fact that it absorbed Lunala in an effort to get a power boost. Unfortunately, for it, Necrozma taking over the human’s Gundam did absolutely nothing to give it the upper hand in the end.

“Remilia!” Heero called out to the Pokèmon Trainer, his voice still overlapping with Hikari’s. “Necrozma’s now weakened! Try using your Z-Move on it!”

Remilia heard Heero’s (and maybe Hikari’s?) voice and paced away from her group. “Would Nebby be saved if I do this?”

“There’s no time to be hesitant, Remilia!” she heard Plumeria shout at her as the latter ran close to the edge of the rock platform her group was doing battle on with Phyco and Soliera.

Remilia looked at her, confused. 

“We can use the Ghost-type Z-move together!” Plumeria suggested as she held up her black Z-Ring with the Ghostium Z embedded on it. “We’d most likely expel Necrozma’s soul and possibly Lunala both if we do this!”

Desperately wanting it to be true, Remilia nodded, and replaced the Fairium Z with the Ghostium Z on her Z-Ring. After that task had been done, she released Isabelle from her Heal Ball and Plumeria released her Gengar from her Ultra Ball.

“Z-Power!” both females said in unison. They then made the motion similar to that of a ghost. “Never-Ending Nightmare!”

Intense violet waves of energy surrounded Gengar and Isabelle, fully cloaking themselves in the Ghost-type Z-Power their Trainers granted them. A black void erupted from them both and enveloped the now-weakened than before Necrozma, who was floating limply without its arm and wings. A violet splash also came from both of the Ghost-type Pokèmon, and violet arms and hands suddenly wrapped around Necrozma, a few of them locking “fingers” with each other until exploding in violet energy.

In the midst of this display of Ghost-type Z-Power, a white outline that looks like Necrozma surrounded by a black aura emerged from Gundam Deathscythe Hell, letting out an enraged roar.

Grateful for the opportunity given to him, Heero had Wing Gundam Zero reach behind its back where its sub-wings are and got out two halves of its twin buster rifle, and attached them together. The buster rifles are the only ones unaffected by Wing Zero’s “transformation.”

“Target acquired,” Heero spoke, overlapping with Hikari’s voice still. “Soul of Necrozma. Proceeding with elimination of the target.”

Wing Zero pulled the trigger, and shoots a burst of light orange and red energy with a pulsating hum, heading straight to its target.

The energy hits Necrozma’s soul, and the dragon-like entity let out an alien-reptilian scream as it became vaporized into nothingness along with a bright flash of white light by the twin buster rifle’s shot. The task done, the light orange energy beams ceased, the bright flash along with them. 

Everybody held their breath as both the light orange beams and flash of light disappeared. Gundam Deathscythe Hell returned to its original state, albeit damaged from during its dime being possessed by Necrozma. It simply floated in the space, as if unconscious, or even dead. But since Deathscythe Hell had been restored… where is Lunala?

That question had been answered when it was discovered that Lunala was holding itself up on the rock platform it happened to land on, panting from exhaustion from being possessed by Necrozma. Remilia called out its nickname, and Lunala turned its glassy starlight head towards the pink-haired Trainer. Gathering whatever strength it had left, it flapped its starry sky-like wings and flew towards her, but went limp once it had reached her.

Concerned, Remilia walked up to the Moone Pokèmon. “Are you all right, Nebby?”

Lunala responded to her by answering telepathically. Due to not having fully evolved for long, its use of telepathy still has a little “white noise.” It nonetheless stated to her that it is all right, and needs to rest for a little bit.

Remilia sighed with relief. But then she turned her attention to Wing Zero. “So what happens next, now that Necrozma’s soul is destroyed?”

“I must return the light it had stolen back to Alola,” Hikari answered with Heero’s lips.

“But, won’t it-- You know…?” Quatre asked.

“There is a risk of Heero passing out as myself, as I am not used to lending my power to anyone else, let alone him. Unfortunately, there is no other choice.”

“Quatre,” Remilia spoke to him. “It’s best to let her do it.”

The Sandrock pilot let out a resigned sigh, but decided not to object any further.

♫♩*~Final Fantasy IX - Zidane and Dagger Part~*♫♩

Wing Zero’s rainbow dragon-eyed orb in its chest plate glowed gold, and it gathered its hands to it briefly. Then it spread its arms out, and its chest burst with golden rays of light, disappearing in what seems to be an Ultra Wormhole.

The golden rays of light spread from the dark void above the Altar of Light on Poni Island, then gathered again to form a large ball of light. The ball of light then burst, making the void disappear, and the bright overcast sky returned in place of it. Gold sparkles and golden glowing feathers slowly fluttered down to the surface like snow, disappearing on contact with the ground by bursting into sparkles.

One such feather floated away southward to the Seafolk Village, making a landing on the water’s surface; not actually bursting and disappearing like the rest, but simply laying there, casting a bright glow onto a small area as the Alolan sun attempted to peek from behind the clouds.


	19. Where the Light Gleams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter before the epilogue! Since the epilogue's kinda short, I'm planning on uploading it on the same day today.
> 
> Enjoy~!

♫♩*~Wingless Seraph - Rest in Peace~*♫♩

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~???~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wing Gundam Zero floated in the red-and-blue space, limp, its robotic eyes not glowing green now. Heero was slumped in the cockpit, exhausted from the exertion of using Hikari’s power to obliterate Necrozma’s soul from existence. In his mind, Hikari called out to him, in a state no worse than him.

_ “He… Heero?” _

Heero let out a soft moan, but moved only slightly at Hikari’s voice. But his mind was still active enough to respond.  _ “Hikari. Are you all right?” _

_ In Heero’s mind, Hikari, in its projection of a female and in the nude, was on its hands and knees, panting, her privates covered by her long flowing blonde hair. _

_ “I’m… I’m all right.” It looked up to Heero. It could see that his face was slightly evident with slight concern. “I’m sorry. I’m not as powerful as I once was…” _

_ “There’s no need to apologize, Hikari,” Heero said to it in assurance. “Your power was enough to destroy Necrozma once and for all. That’s what matters to me and the others.” _

_ Hikari expressed a grateful smile, its multi-colored dragon eyes softening. _

_ “You should rest now, Hikari,” Heero suggested. _

_ “Thank you.” Hikari softly laid down on her side, her long hair acting as a blanket, and closed her eyes, content. _

Heero moaned slightly again, this time making an effort to wake up from unconsciousness. He slowly opened is cobalt blue eyes to adjust to the brightness of the monitors surrounding him. In response, Wing Zero’s eyes glowed green and readjusted itself into a less relaxed position. On the monitors, Heero noticed Sandrock Gundam, Altron Gundam and Gundam Heavyarms floating in front of him, with Heavyarms holding something in its hand.

“Where is Duo?” he asked the group.

Quatre’s image appeared on one of the cockpit monitors with a saddened expression on his face. “He’s… Duo is…”

Trowa’s image appeared next. “Heero… I think it’s better for you to see for yourself.”

Heero maneuvered Wing Zero towards the limp object laying in Gundam Heavyarms’ hand to see what Trowa and Quatre were talking about. Is Duo really all right from the aftermath? As soon as Wing Zero went close enough to Heavyarms, the question he had mentally asked is answered, albeit not completely clear.

Duo’s naked pale body lay limp in Gundam Heavyarms’ left hand, his unbraided chestnut brown hair strewn everywhere. He also doesn’t seem to be breathing. Almost uncharacteristically, Heero felt his heart drop at the sight he saw on the cockpit monitor. Is Duo dead? Is he comatose?

Heero directed Wing Zero’s right hand to Heavyarms’ left so that the tips of the formers fingers are touching one side. He then opened up his cockpit and used the next-to-nonexistent gravity to easily jump from his cockpit to Wing’s right arm, proceeding to walk down to the extended hand to Heavyarms’.

Once he got to his destination, the Wing Zero pilot kneeled down and slowly touched Duo’s skin. It almost felt like ice. Heero hung his head down in sadness. Duo is likely dead, meaning that he had broken his promise to Remilia of not killing him or Lunala, even though Lunala turned out to be alive and well, if exhausted from the psychic possession. What would she even say to him now?

Taking off his new gray zip-up hoodie, Heero laid it over Duo’s body, and managed to put it on. Duo was slightly shorter than Heero, so the hoodie looked a tad bigger on him. He then slowly inserted his arms underneath Duo’s shoulders and knees and picked him up almost effortlessly. He nestled his head on his shoulders and made his way back to Wing Zero’s cockpit.

With Duo still in his arms, Heero sat him down on his lap and closed the cockpit hatch. His mind was left wondering what to say to Remilia next. Quatre looked sad and apologetic, Trowa looked remorseful and Wufei looked regretful with a hint of anger on his face.

“You… this is unforgivable!” they heard Phyco shout at them.

The whole group turned their attention to him and Soliera, flabbergasted and angry at them for what had transpired not two minutes ago. 

“Not only have you destroyed the Blinding One,” Phyco yelled at them. “You also destroyed the Blinding One’s soul! And now you’re taking its light for yourselves! Have you no concern for our people’s situation?!”

“Oh, don’t give us that crap when  _ you’re  _ the ones being so greedy!” Quatre berated them. “What you did to Heero, Duo, Lunala, and Necrozma especially, you’re no better than your ancestors. It’s your own damn fault for making Heero and Duo suffer, Duo especially! And now look at him!”

Both Phyco and Soliera were taken aback by Quatre’s words. For the first time in their lives, they don’t know what to say, much less think.  _ No different from their ancestors… _ Those very words repeated themselves in their heads, over and over again.

Wing Gundam Zero, meanwhile, flapped its main wings once to thrust itself to see if it can retrieve Gundam Deathscythe Hell. The latter Gundam remained where it was… as well as the damage taken while being under Necrozma’s psychic control. Its lower left arm was missing, its black bat wing was chopped off where it bends inward, the cockpit hatch missing its doors… but the worst damage it took was its face. Its endoskeleton is almost fully exposed, including the main camera, and part of the gold V-fin was missing. Even the endoskeleton itself wasn’t saved from additional damage, evident by the sorchmarks from Wing Zero’s beam saber.

Wing Zero was able to scoop Deathscythe Hell in its arms, adjusting it slightly so that the damaged wing wouldn’t accidentally scratch at its armor plating. With another flap of its wings, it returned to the group, not saying anything other than what to do next.

“Let’s get back to Alola.”

“How do we do that, though?” Wufei asked calmly.

“We can use Lunala for that,” Quatre replied to his question. “Remilia said that she can create an Ultra Wormhole to get us back to the Altar of Light on Poni Island.”

“Are you sure about that, Quatre?” Trowa asked in concern. “Lunala looks pretty exhausted right now…”

“It’s the only option we’ve got now, Trowa,” Remilia said, sadness evident in her tone.

As if overhearing the conversation, Lunala flapped its wings twice to fly past the group. As soon as it reaches a reasonable distance from them, its “third eye” appeared in its glassy forehead, and a light blue ripple appeared in response. Lunala’s “eye” then glows a bright red as it adjusts the pale gold crescents on its wings to form a circular shape. Multiple orbs of light encircle Lunala and swirl counter-clockwise to its “third eye” and finally releasing a beam of bright blue energy at the ripple, instantly creating an Ultra Wormhole. Lunala then uses its psionic powers to enlarge the Ultra Wormhole big enough for the Gundams to fit through, and it flies right into it, with the Gundams following, and the Ultra Wormhole closing after.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Altar of Light, Poni Island~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following Lunala, all four (functioning) Gundams emerged from the Ultra Wormhole, and landed beside the somewhat damaged shrine known as the Altar of Light; Altron and Wing Zero on one side, and Heavyarms and Sandrock on the other. Altron had to make some distance from Wing Zero due to Gundam Deathscythe Hell still in its arms.

Heavyarms, Sandrock and Altron brought their hands to the carved mountain so that their fingers are touching the edge. Guzma, who was riding on Altron’s hand the entire time, became the first to jump off. Hau did the same as he was riding on Heavyarms’ hand as well; then Gladion, Plumeria and Remilia emerged from the Gundams’ cockpits, followed by their pilots and they descended down to the altar using the tether cord. Heero only came out last, carrying Duo in his arms, as he jumped out of Wing Zero and landed close to Deathscythe’s skirt armor, managing to descend with its tether cord.

As Heero walked to the group with Duo in his arms, Remilia wanted to cry at Duo’s supposedly dead state, her legs becoming too weak to support her body’s weight. Heero was able to see this and kneeled down to her.

Slowly, Remilia touched Duo’s pale face, noting that it felt could to the touch. A couple tears leaked out of her eyes, then she burst out crying, cradling Duo’s limp head in her hands and bringing his forehead to hers.

Heero could definitely imagine what Remilia’s feeling. Her sadness, that much is clear. She might also be angry at him for allegedly killing Duo, even though the circumstances were beyond his control. Heero was feeling almost the same way as she was; is this what it feels like to lose a friend in combat, let alone possessed by some spirit of a god? When he and Duo first met, Heero thought nothing of him, simply seeing him as a minor annoyance. Maybe… maybe somewhere along the line, during the war back in their world, he started to develop a soft spot for him, or perhaps possibly pity that grew into something more. 

A reverb-sounding, glittering moan made itself known to the others’ ears. Remilia turned her head fast to the source, thick tears still streaming down her face. Lunala, still exhausted from using its energy to create a large Ultra Wormhole for the Gundams, tried to speak to Remilia telepathically. Like before, it was riddled with white noise, only somewhat worse than last time. 

_ “---tal… chrys-al…”  _ Lunala was saying in a female voice.  _ “Life… f---ce…” _ It then collapsed from near-total exhaustion.

♫♩*~Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Kida Returns~*♫♩

Remilia wiped away her tears and tried to make sense of what Lunala had said before passing out.  _ Crystal… Life force… _ A light bulb suddenly went off in her head. The large black Z-Crystal that was on the altar’s platform prior! That must be what Lunala was referring to!

She wasted no time opening her white ruffled shoulder bag and took out the black crystal, whose crimson highlights would only appear in certain angles. Ignoring Heero’s curiosity for a moment, she unzipped her fanny pack and took out her Quick Ball, releasing Emil the Alolan Sandslash. She held the large Z-Crystal over Duo’s body with both hands grasping the ends, and commanded Emil to use Brick Break over the crystal.

Emil easily chops the crystal with its long icy claws, which released a white mist that slowly descends down to Duo’s body and spreads throughout his entire person. In the span of a few seconds, the mist becomes completely absorbed in his body, and his skin complexion returns to normal.

Duo moans and squirms a little, causing Remilia to gasp softly, her heart skipping a beat. Slowly, he opens his indigo eyes and lifts his head up to focus on Heero better.

“H… Heero?” he croaked out.

The latter simply stared at him for a few more seconds, and suddenly embraces him in a hug, his fingers entangling themselves into his long hair. Duo simply laid there, this action taking him completely by surprise. He nevertheless slowly wrapped his arms around his back and hugged him back tightly, gently burying his head into his shoulder.

Remilia soon started to cry softly, this time with happiness and relief, making no effort to stop the smile from forming on her face. 

Both of the Gundam pilots released each other, with Duo still being stunned by Heero’s wholly unexpected display of affection. Heero took a look at the other Gundam pilots behind Remilia and her Sandslash. Wufei, Plumeria, Gladion and Trowa let out small smiles, Quatre was struggling to not break into tears of joy, and Hau and Guzma fist-pumped into the air. All of them are relieved and happy that Duo turned out okay, despite what he had gone through during their time in Alola.

Duo signaled Heero that he needs to stand up, and Heero complied, taking in his hand to help him back up on his feet, and putting his hands on his shoulders to help him maintain its balance. Both of them, and following the rest, watched the cloudy, overcast sky break from the peeking sunlight, revealing the entirety of the sun in full force, its rays casting wherever is touched by their gleam. Though the circumstances were unusual, coming into this world might be the best thing that’s ever happened to the Gundam pilots.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Aether Paradise; The Next Day, Early Morning*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

Duo leaned against the railing in front of Aether Paradise, the ambient sound of the ocean waves almost making him fall asleep yet again. He spent the entire day yesterday resting in the Aether Foundation’s medical wing, but he had only woken up recently after finding that he couldn’t go back to sleep. His long chestnut brown hair was still undone, waving in the gentle sea breeze, and he wore the same lavender medical jumpsuit with certain parts of his body still exposed, but he was wearing an Aether hooded sports jacket to keep himself warm from the cool breeze plus off-white medical slippers, as the walking around the hard floor long enough made his feet hurt slightly.

He stared out into the horizon turning violet, gradient against the midnight blue sprinkled with stars, thinking about the latest conversation with Remilia. At first, Remilia was checking on him to see if he’s all right--which, really he is, if somewhat exhausted--but… it went a little deeper than that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Aether Paradise Hospital Wing, Several Minutes Earlier~*~*~*~*~*~

_ Remilia stared at the sleeping figure, hers halfway obscured by the doorway. She and her Trainer friends had used their ride Pokèmon to get their Gundam pilot friends to Aether Paradise, where they would rest and refresh themselves after their rather spectacular battle against Phyco, Soliera and Necrozma, Lunala especially. It fainted from exhaustion from being possessed by Necrozma, coupled with creating a very large Ultra Wormhole for the Gundams to fit and travel through to get back to Poni. Wicke was kind enough to let the pilots rest in the employee residential area (Plumeria and Guzma went back to Ula’ula while Hau went back to Melemele), and have the Aether medical team attend to Duo and Lunala awhile. Meanwhile, Remilia opted to go back to her house on Melemele to rest rather than take up Wicke’s offer of staying at Aether, though she did tell Wicke to vid-call her in case Duo and Lunala’s condition changes. _

_ So, Remilia spent the rest of her day relaxing--well as best she could, as after the adrenaline rush she had while distracting Necrozma, she was having difficulty recovering from it, so she had to find ways in order to distract herself. Cleaning her whole house (except for her mother’s bedroom), washing dishes, feeding her pet Meowth, taking care of its litter box, even watched her favorite real robot anime shows on the internet. As soon as night fell, she went straight to bed, cuddling her Sylveon plushie. Unfortunately, she was having a hard time getting to sleep. After a few hours, she was able to, only to wake up a couple hours later, in the wee hours of the morning. Her heart still thudding against her ribcage, she got herself dressed and snuck out of the house without waking her mom and flew to Aether Paradise, which led to her standing half-obscured through the doorway now. _

_ Maybe, deep down, she did feel a little silly that she had let her anxiety control her in retrospect, but… Remilia can’t help but feel… Every time she looks at Duo, the first thing that ever comes to her mind is her late father. Granted, it did take her and her mom almost a decade to recover from this sudden loss, and, all things considered, she was doing fine, until the very first time that she laid eyes on Duo, namely his face, his attitude… his touch that almost made her feel nostalgic. A small part of her wanted to blame Duo for having one too many similarities to her late dad, but the rest of her felt that it would be unfair to punish him just because he bears the same similarities as him. The entire time the Gundam pilots have been in this world, Remilia kept telling herself that no matter what Duo looks like, or how he acts, he isn’t her father and that’s that. _

_ But, there is still one tiny, crazy thought that still lingers within her. That crazy thought being that Duo might be the reincarnation of her late father. Like her, he was also a huge fan of real robot shows, and was responsible for getting her into them as young as four or five. She remembered asking him if he wanted to pilot a giant mecha from any of the shows he watches, and he said that he definitely would, because he thinks it would be so cool to pilot one. Come his sudden death some time later, plus watching those same shows online, she had thought that those were grittier than she had last remembered. But that memory made her think that Duo was her father’s reincarnation, like he might have achieved his dream somehow. _

_ Her current thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she sees Duo stir under the sheets a little, and she immediately hid herself behind the doorway to avoid being noticed by him. _

_ “Who’s there?” he said almost sleepily. _

_ Remilia tried to keep her breathing still, as much as her face had heated up. _

_ “Whoever’s behind there, either come inside or leave,” she heard him say next. _

_ Remilia swallowed.  _ Okay, so he noticed me,  _ she thought in defeat. _

_ Straightening her spine, she made herself be seen by Duo, who was sitting on his medical bed and wearing the lavender jumpsuit and hair still undone. His clothes were still being patched up, so it’s unlikely that he’ll change into them anytime soon. He has a surprised look on his face, despite having just woken up. _

_ “Remilia?” Duo asked her name. “What are you doing here?” _

_ Remilia inhaled a shaky breath. “I… I couldn’t sleep.” _

_ Duo shrugged in response. “Yeah, well, me neither.” He paused. “Though I don’t see why you would bother coming all the way here from Melemele just to see me. You had a bad dream or something?” _

_ It took all of Remilia’s will to not shudder.  _ There he goes again.  _ “I said I couldn’t sleep,” she replied, being unintentionally snappy. “I never had a bad dream or anything.” _

_ Duo was taken aback by her response. “Jeez, sorry, there’s no need to be snappy at me. I was just asking out of pure concern.” _

_ Remilia sighed in a futile attempt to relieve the pain in her chest. “No,  _ I’m _ sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I didn’t mean it.” _

_ “It’s okay. We’re all feeling exhausted after yesterday’s events, so I kinda couldn’t blame you for that.” _

_ Remilia stared at Duo rather sorrowfully. She felt her legs becoming weak, but she forced them to keep standing anyway. _

_ Duo straightened his brows in concern. “Something wrong?” _

♫♩*~Brian Crain - Dream of Flying~*♫♩

_ Remilia let out a shaky sigh, an urge to cry creeping in the back of her brain. “You… you remind me so much of my father…” _

_ The long-haired Deathscythe pilot tilted his head slightly. “I’m sorry?” _

_ “Almost everything about you is him. Your physical appearance, your personality, your… your attitude… It was like he was brought back to life after all these years…” _

_ Duo’s eyes widened at what Remilia said about him. He, resembling her father? In many aspects, no less? “I… I don’t…” He cleared his throat. “Remi, I really don’t know what to say, other than sorry about your dad’s passing.” He lowered his head down and sighed. “If it makes you feel any better, I never even knew my real parents myself.” He then lifted his head up. “The only real parents I ever had was Father Maxwell and Sister Helen, back in the space colonies in my world, before they…” _

_ He stopped himself, upon noticing that Remilia looked like she could burst out crying any minute. _

_ Remilia continued after a brief but heavy pause between them. “My dad was a Pokèmon Trainer, just like I am. He, he never became the champion of Unova, but… he told me that loves the journey more than the goal.” _

_ “Is that why you took up the Island Challenge?” Duo asked in curiosity. “To get the same feeling your dad got while on his journey in Unova?” _

_ Remilia swallowed. “Maybe… But, otherwise, I’m not sure myself. I only went along with it, because it was a coming-of-age thing and, everybody else was doing it, and…” She stopped, not knowing what else to say next. _

_ Duo straightened his brows. “You don’t regret going on the Island Challenge, do you?” _

_ “No, I don’t. I’ve met some great people along the way, bonded with my Pokèmon even as they evolve…” Remilia paused, trying to think of what to say next. Everybody says that partaking in the Island Challenge helps you become a stronger Pokèmon Trainer, but… with what Duo is implying… is there a deeper reason for all this? She knows she isn’t doing it to achieve what her late father failed to do, that much is clear, but… _

_ “Deep down…” she continued. “Deep down, I wish Dad was alive today. Me just looking at you, you being here, even in this world, just helped amplified that. I just wanted him to be alive to witness my achievements, watch me grow up, watch me fight tooth and nail just to become the Island Challenge Champion…” Remilia inhaled a shaky breath and let it out the same way. “I wanted him to be there to congratulate me for reaching that goal successfully, along with Mom…” _

_ Duo listened to her intently, feeling even more sorry for her for having to go through that ordeal of losing her father suddenly, and her issues stemming after the fact. “Come here.” _

_ Remilia took a step forward, confused about what Duo was going to do. _

_ “Take your hat off.” _

_ Remilia did so, rubbing her pink-brown head. _

_ “Now lean forward.” _

_ She bent down slightly, careful to make sure that the first thing Duo doesn’t see is her large revealing cleavage. _

_ Duo then places a hand on her head, stroking it gently, a confident smile forming on his face. “If your dad were alive today, I know he’ll say this: ‘I’m so happy my baby girl was able to become Alola’s first-ever regional Champion.’ No doubt about it.” _

_ Those words suddenly coming out of Duo’s mouth was enough for Remilia’s dams to burst, and she threw her arms around his torso, her hat forgotten on the white floor, placing her head in the crook of his neck, sobbing loudly. Duo responded by wrapping his arms around her with one hand stroking her pink-brown hair, deciding to let Remilia pour all of her overwhelming emotions into his shoulder. _

_ Remilia was grateful that Duo did so. For far too long, she kept her nostalgic and sad feelings bottled up, even before she met him and the other pilots. On the other hand, she was grateful to Duo for listening to every word she had said about her late father, even providing a shoulder to sob freely on when talking about him had proven to be too much for her to handle. Her throat was starting to feel like an old, wet rag, but with her pouring out every last of her overwhelming emotions she had been trying to keep to the bottom, it was very hard for her to stop crying anytime soon. _

_ Duo just up and let Remilia cry her heart out, not caring if her tears stain his medical jumpsuit. Even though he has been through an even worse situation than her of losing his only parental figures to the war between the colonies and Romefeller… Despite having never cried, he does sympathize with her, because he knows what it’s like to lose someone they love, a parent especially. _

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*To the Present*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

♫♩*~No BGM~*♫♩

Thinking back on the conversation, Duo couldn’t help but wonder: did he really have the same physical and personal resemblance to Remilia’s late dad? Well, he couldn’t really imagine him having long hair, so if he cuts it all off, he would look  _ physically _ the same as him. However, Duo knows that he can’t replace her father, and he’s sure that Remilia knows that, too. He didn’t really imagine that they would develop a very close friendship in the short amount of time he and the other Gundam pilots have been in this world, but… deep down, he was glad that they did, even gladder that it happened.

Another part of Duo told him that even with all the crazy stuff that has happened in the past two or so days, he can’t forget that he and the other pilots still has to go back to their dimension and time, now made possible due to the fact that Remilia has a Legendary Pokèmon has the ability to create Ultra Wormholes. A chuckle tickled inside him. Duo and the others haven’t even been in this place long and yet he feels like he’s missing it already. It’s not just Remilia, or the fact that she’s a Pokèmon Trainer (the strongest one in Alola to boot) that made this dimension special; it’s the variety of Pokèmon that live here, the sport known as Pokèmon battling having the uncanny ability to unite people as one. This world’s mythos, the biology and habitats of each and every Pokèmon, everything else ever born in this world possibly makes it even more special than anything that Duo or his fellow pilots have seen, or even experienced in their lifetimes.

For the next few moments, Duo wondered if he and his friends, and the others from their home dimension, were born in this world instead of theirs, anything and everything would be different from the circumstances there. He might have met the pilots a little differently, and their pasts would not have been as dysfunctional (or _ them _ being dysfunctional, for that matter). Granted, their professions and occupations might be either slightly or wildly different, but the one thing they would have in common is not having to fight pointless battles, a pointless war; there would have been no war, period. They would even share common ground through Pokèmon battling, just like everybody else in Alola, if not this entire planet.

His contemplative thoughts were interrupted when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Heero approach next to him and placed his arms on the railing, staring into the horizon. He briefly thought if he came here just to watch the sunrise.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” Duo asked him.

Heero lowered his head slightly. “No.”

“Came here to watch the sunrise?”

Heero didn’t respond to the latest question.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ then.”

The two of them said nothing for a few moments, as they simply watched the sky’s gradients turn into pale rose, then bright orange, with the stars slowly disappearing from the sky. Heero would have to admit, it is quite beautiful. Until now, he never learned to enjoy such moments of serenity and peacefulness.

The Wing Zero pilot looked at Duo. His unwoven brown hair flowed along with sea breeze, almost as if it were dancing in the soft wind. It looked… mesmerizing, oddly for him. 

As if controlled by some unknown force, Heero slowly moved his and to Duo’s long hair and captured a strand between his thumb and index finger. It felt like he was touching silk.

Unfortunately for him, Duo sensed that he was touching his hair and slapped his hand away. “Get your mitts off my hair, you jerk!”

“I’m sorry,” Heero said without a second thought, his mind suddenly snapping back to reality.

“You oughta be.”

The two boys opted not to say anything up to the point when the sun was halfway up from the ocean horizon. Duo first yawned, saying that he’s going back to the Aether employee residential area to catch up on more of his sleep. Heero opted to stay behind, with Duo teasing him about him staying to watch the sunrise while thinking about his “pretty pink princess,” though Duo scampered off before Heero could strike him with his signature death glare. 

Sighing, Heero returned to viewing watching the sun rise. Deep down, though, he wondered if Duo was right.

******************************************************************

♫♩*~Coro - Your Eyes Only (Kissing the Mirror)~*♫♩

The rest of the day after was like a slow breeze for the Gundam pilots. Later in the morning, all of them decided to go to the indoor conservation area on the top floor of the main building at Quatre’s proposal. Nobody else objected to that, since the past couple of days have been rather crazy, ranging from being sucked through the Ultra Wormhole and into this world to having to save Duo and Lunala from the clutches of a feral light deity known as Necrozma, so they all needed some rest and relaxation.

At Wicke’s insistence, the Gundam pilots head to the Aether employee cafeteria where they had their breakfast, which Wicke has kindly paid for. She had also informed Duo that his clothes and shoes are fully mended and ready to be picked up anytime he wishes. Duo enthusiastically thanked the woman, very nearly choking on his breakfast in the process and Trowa had to slap his back once to get him to swallow properly. Quatre and Wicke couldn’t help but chuckle at his antics while Heero and Wufei looked annoyed.

After they had their breakfast, Wicke led the pilots to the conservation area on the top floor. They noted that the whole place looks similar to that of the reptile or small primate centers in the zoos from their world, or even breeding and rescue centers. There was also a large variety of Pokèmon residing in the conservation area, ranging from Rock-type to Water-type, big and small; a few others they could hardly tell they’re Pokèmon at all! No different from the animals from their world, they mused altogether. There was even one Pokèmon which closely resembles a bonsai tree that looked Grass-type, but--according to Wicke--is actually a Rock-type. The Pokèmon, known as Sudowoodo, is the Mimic Pokèmon that disguises its appearance by standing upright, arms spread and looking like a tree. On rainy days, it finds shelter as the moisture isn’t too good for its very rocky skin.

The Gundam pilots walked around the conservation area for a while longer--splitting up into two groups, even--when a young female employee approached Wicke and said that Remilia has arrived on Aether Paradise to see the boys. Trowa overheard this and asked the young employee what she would want with them, and she replied that she will tell them as soon as they personally see her. Duo then tells Wicke that he would like to pick up his clothes; Wicke then leads the boys to the triangular elevator they used to ride up to the conservation area to go down to the reception area, both where the front entrance and the pathway to the mansion, which is all the way in the back of this floating paradise. Wicke excuses herself and Duo from the group as she led him to the upwards path to the white mansion to retrieve his clothes, with Quatre telling them both that Duo will meet up with them at the front entrance.

At the front entrance, Remilia sat on the wall of a small bush garden, sitting closely to a polished gold plaque that says that Aether Paradise was founded by its first president named “Lucius,” who passed down the paradise to his daughter upon death, whom she was surprised to find out was actually Lusamine. For a brief moment, she mused that she and Lusamine _still_ aren't any different from each other, no matter how much she hates her for what she’s done, especially for what she did to Lillie and Nebby.

Back to the subject, Remilia sat on the bush garden wall, a stack of six differently-colored bento boxes wrapped up in a Luvdisc-patterned cloth topped with a cute knot sitting on her lap. Considering what they have been through the past two days, she thinks it’s high-time to give the Gundam pilots a proper tour of the Alola region before they head home along with their Gundams. That reminds her, she needs to ask Wicke if Lunala is recovering well enough for it to create another large Ultra Wormhole for the guys’ Gundams to fit through.

Remilia then noticed for of them walking through the entrance and waved at them before walking towards the group, carrying the bento boxes. “Where’s Duo and Wicke?” she had asked them.

“Both Duo and Wicke are at Gladion’s mansion to get his clothes,” Quatre had explained. 

“So they’re already taken care of?”

“Yes. So we can go whenever we please.”

“Before that, though, I’ve got something for you.” 

Remilia untied the cute little knot of the Luvdisc cloth, revealing the six bentos. “Here! It took all morning to make these!”

“Bento lunches?” Trowa asked, a little confused.

“For what purpose do you have these made for?” asked Wufei as well, raising a black brow.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Remilia replied. “I’m going to give you guys a proper tour of the Alola region.”

“But you gave us a tour already,” Trowa said bluntly.

“That was before you guys told me you were Gundam pilots from another dimension.”

“Point,” said Quatre.

“We still need to wait for Duo and Wicke to come back,” Heero reminded the group.

“Speaking of, how do you propose going from island to island without a ride Pokèmon?” Wufei asked, shooting her an accusatory look.

Remilia gave him a stink-eye glare. “We can ask Wicke to use the Aether ferry to go to any of the islands. They’re used occasionally to have tiral-goers go to Aether Paradise to get a tour about what they do, what the different occupations Aether works on, the works. It’s not actually a mandatory part of the Island Challenge, but everybody else seems to encourage it.”

“What about the ferries for each island?” Trowa inquired next. 

“I’ll pay for the tickets, so there’s no need to worry about it.”

“You must have a lot of money just from being Alola’s first regional Champion,” said Quatre almost amusingly.

“Plus more from capturing the Ultra Beasts and sending them back to their natural habitats in Ultra Space.”

“By whom, Aether Paradise?” Wufei asked skeptically.

“Nope; something that has a lot more money than even Aether Paradise. But I’m not telling who that is.”

Quatre suddenly shrieked as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso and being barely lifted up from the ground. 

“Guess who’s baaaack~!” a familiar hearty voice said.

Quatre burst out laughing as he was (mercifully) placed back on his feet. “Duo! Please don’t do that again, you really scared me!”

Duo, having wearing his finally-fixed clothes and his hair woven into is signature braid, let out a dorky smirk. “Sorry! Hohhh man, it feels so good to be back in these!”

“Hi, Duo!” Remilia greeted him as soon as he recognized him.

“Hiya Remi~!” Duo swiftly approached her as soon as he laid eyes on the bento boxes. “Watcha got there, some yummies~?”

“Why is it that every time you recover from your injuries, the first thing you ask is if there’s any food?” Wufei asked in disbelief.

“Wufei, Duo’s been through a whole lot, as we all have been,” Quatre politely chided him. “It’s only fair that we all deserve a treat to put our minds off of the recent events.”

“Translation: Fu-- Back off, Wufei, and let us enjoy our last day together,” said Remilia, taking note of Wicke’s presence, as she knew that cussing whenever she’s around wouldn’t really be good.

The Sandrock pilot couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, I still say my version’s the way to go.”

“Though I like Remi’s better,” Duo chimed in.

Quatre and Remilia can’t help but burst out laughing; even Trowa had to chuckle at that statement. 

“So, Wicke…” Remilia took a few paces towards the poofy-haired woman. “Do you think you could put us in a ferry to leave in?”

“Of course!” replied Wicke happily. “Which island would you like to go to?”

Remilia turned back to the five boys and repeated Wicke’s question to them.

“Maybe to Akala,” Quatre replied. “I guess in retrospect, I think I enjoyed that island the most.”

The rest of the pilots agreed immeasurably.

“All right,” Wick said with a nod. “There’s a passenger ferry scheduled to leave for Akala ten minutes from now. I’ll lead you six to the docking area. Oh! But first… Remilia?”

“Hm?” It took a second for her to register what Wicke meant. “Oh! Right! Think you can help me with that?”

“Sure!”

Carefully, Remilia handed the bento box stack along with the Luvdisc cloth to Wicke, and the latter held it steady as the former wrapped it up again, tying it back into the cute knot that Remilia tried to recreate as much as possible. With the task done, Wicke led the six teenagers to the triangle-shaped elevator and pressed the down button, leading them down to the docking area.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Akala Island; Paniola Ranch, Some Time Later*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The pilots’ first destination of choice was Paniola Ranch, namely where Pokèmon breeders are, and how they do their job. Actually, truth be told, Trowa was the one who brought that question up, and apparently the other boys had their curiosity piqued as well. Regardless, Remilia was more than happy to take them to Paniola Ranch to know more, and also to maybe look at the adorable baby Pokèmon, the Mareep especially.

They arrived to Paniola ranch via bus ride then ride Pokèmon as soon as said bus dropped them off far enough outside the city. With the ride Pokèmon, it took a little more time to get there than on Lana’s ride Dragonair, even with Tauros and Mudsdale’s fast gallops. 

Remilia met up with her friend Savannah again, who was pleased to hear that the boys had finally found each other, while Remilia also kept their true origins (plus Quatre’s facial and hand injury, which Savannah didn’t even question about much to her relief) out of their conversation due to concerns of causing panic and fear among the locals, as there had already been enough of that with the Ultra Beasts the week prior.

Savannah showed the boys around the ranch while briefing them on what they do there aside from Pokèmon breeding. She showed them to a large herd of pink cow-like Pokèmon known as Miltank in one enclosure with a smaller group of Tauros in another. Remilia had explained to the Gundam pilots that both of them are single-gender species, which Heero had silently noted has got to be the weirdest case sexual dimorphism he had ever seen, let alone having two Pokèmon species being a single gender from each other.

Savannah then showed them the Pokèmon nursery, where they breed different Pokèmon (through exact words). The place looks no different from a cat or dog shelter from the boys’ world, complete with very colorful patterns and toys for the baby Pokèmon to play with. Savannah explained that different Pokèmon can breed with one another just so long as they’re in the same egg group. Wufei was dangerously close to overreacting at the notion until Quatre slapped his mouth shut with his hand. Savannah further explained that Pokèmon Trainers usually have the breeders breed their Pokèmon together to inherit moves from either parent, or even both; in some regions, breeding contests were held from time to time.

Quatre had questioned the parent Pokèmon involved with rearing their offspring to Savannah. The blonde girl replied that they generally leave the newly-hatched Pokèmon alone with their mothers to attend to until they are old and comfortable enough to be away from them; the case also applies to the starter Pokèmon as soon as they learn their moves of the same type their natural type is, as well as a couple Normal-type moves having learned as they grow.

And so, the whole party spent quite a while with the baby Pokèmon--playing with them, gently petting them, even getting the chance to hold them. Remilia couldn’t even help but blurt out “Awwww!” at Trowa playing with a young Popplio, who was able to create a bubble in an attempt to use Water Gun from its little pink clown nose, with Trowa blowing the bubble towards it and the Popplio would bump it back with its little pink clown nose. They would continue playing this game until the bubble popped mid-air.

Remilia also couldn’t help but giggle at Quatre and Heero holding the other baby Pokèmon Pichu and Togepi. Quatre tickled the little Pichu in its adorable little tummy, which caused the Tiny Mouse Pokèmon to giggle out its cry, while Heero simply held the Togepi, having a hard time believing that this creature is a Fairy-type. Remilia explained that Togepi siphons the positive energy from other people, and shares their joy to those who take care of it properly. She also thinks that this Togepi has taken a liking to Heero, which confused him more than he would prefer.

_ I wonder if it’s because I’m the mortal reincarnation of a light goddess, _ Heero had thought.  _ Well, the mortal reincarnation of half a light god which has gained sentience as I grew up. _

Sure enough, the boys’ stomachs began to rumble. Savannah couldn’t help but laugh, stating that the boys must be hungry from their tour in Alola; Quatre half-lied that they hadn’t even eaten anything since they left the hotel they were staying in on Ula’ula. Remilia mentioned to her that she prepared six bento lunches for the tour for them to munch on, also saying that she stocked up on Pokèmon food the other day. Savannah kindly led the group to a wooden picnic table next to an enclosure containing a flock of Mareep--which doesn’t look any different from a regular young sheep discounting the long striped tail with an orb at the end, odd-looking horns and fine blue fur. Savannah left the group to their own devices as Remilia released all of her Pokèmon for both fresh air and some exercise. She then reached into her bag and pulled out three shallow plastic containers that have Pokèmon food--looking slightly like hard dog food--in them, labelling them as such based on their species’ diets. Two of them were labelled as “meat” while the last was labelled “vegan.” She opened up the first of the two meat Pokèmon food for Emil and Pucker, while opening up the second, slightly larger container for Brynja, Zero and Shayde. She opened up the vegan Pokèmon food container last for Nori, Kai and Isabelle and set it on the picnic table while setting the other two on the grass.

With the task done, Remilia unwrapped the Luvdisc cloth and handed out the bento containers to the Gundam pilots while keeping one for herself. Curiously--and possibly in anticipation--they removed the lids revealing a rather small but spectacular sushi meal: Magikarp and Clawncher nigiri with wrapped Wishiwashi makizushi nestled next to them, plus diced Pecha Berries with the other half of the bento box containing omurice cut into small cubes with a thin line of ketchup zig-zagging across them. They also noticed that half the lids contain chopsticks while the other half had a small fork in them; Remilia explained that she suspected that not all of them can hold chopsticks very well, so she put the forks in them as a precaution, a fact that Trowa thanked her for her act of consideration.

Duo couldn’t even stop watering as he looked at the meal Remilia prepared for the boys. Quatre thanked Remilia for making such a delicious and elaborate meal with Trowa, Duo, Heero and Wufei echoing the same. Remilia giggled and thanked them for their compliments, and they started eating. Duo was eating at a faster pace than any of the pilots, with Heero deadpanning to him to slow down or else he’ll choke. Quatre chewed on one cube of the omurice slowly to savor the flavor. The taste is a tad strong for his liking, but he’s not about to complain. Wufei, on the other hand, was deeply disturbed that this world eats Pokèmon while considering them their allies at the same time, but decided to keep his mouth shut for politeness’ sake and to spare him from Remilia’s wrath by proxy of her Pokèmon team.

With their meals finished, Remilia gathered the bento boxes and eating utensils together and wrapped them up in the Luvdisc cloth, with the Gundam pilots thanking her again for the meal. Trowa wondered out loud what they should do next, and Remilia said that she should let her Pokèmon play for a half-hour before leaving for the next destination of their choosing, just so long as they get to Poni Island and go back home. She further stated that she would like to watch the Mareep during this time until it was time to leave. A couple of the pilots agreed that this is a good idea, with the rest of them reluctantly went along with it.

Mareep-watching and Pokèmon playtime done after thirty minutes, Remilia and her Gundam pilot friends set off to their next destination. Quatre proposes they should go to Poni Island to take a look at the floating boat-village they flew past yesterday to get to the Altar of Light, which Remilia clarified is the Seafolk Village. Still, she took Quatre’s proposal into account and she lead them to Route 8, which is between Lush Jungle and Wela Volcano Park, which is north of Royal avenue. She explained that the path to Royal Avenue also connects to Heahea City. They wasted no time going there with the ride Pokèmon yet again, plus taking another bus ride to the ferry terminal to get to the Seafolk Village on Poni Island.

They arrived at the Seafolk Village, only to encounter a large, white strange-looking bird-like Pokèmon which Remilia explained to the surprised group that it’s a Togekiss. The Togekiss Remilia identified had a folded piece of paper in its mouth, and walked tip-toed towards her, and dropped into her hands. Remilia had unfolded the piece of paper, which is actually a letter from Mina, Poni Island’s Fairy-type Trial Captain and a recent friend of hers; also the only person on this island Remilia can trust in guarding the boys’ Gundams in Poni Canyon from curious eyes of the locals, while also telling her not to tell them about where they had actually came from. The letter had said that Mina had suspected that since Remilia only has one flying ride Pokèmon, she sent her Togekiss for additional transport for the boys. Remilia made a mental note to thank her for her consideration.

Keeping Quatre’s proposal, Remilia told Mina’s Togekiss to stay behind, and the group takes a look around Seafolk village. The Gundam pilots were in awe at this place, largely because all of the boats have been built both as residential homes and small business establishments. One boat was even built in physical similarity to the Pokèmon Center, and when Duo and Quatre entered, it really is in the same vein as a Pokèmon Center, except without any fancy machinery. The owner, who appears to be a middle-aged Alolan native, explained to the two boys that trial-goers always go there to have their Pokèmon healed with medicinal herbs plus a day’s rest, so it was always referred to as the “calm” before setting off to face the island kahuna and the Vast Poni Canyon and eventually, Poni Canyon’s Totem Pokèmon.

After deciding that they have spent enough time in the Seafolk Village, the group decides it’s time for them to head home to their own dimension, a fact that Remilia had readily, yet sadly accepted that they had to leave eventually. That was why she wanted to give them the best tour possible; so that they wouldn’t ever forget their time here, or their recent adventure.

They mounted Remilia’s ride Flygon and Mina’s Togekiss and took off to Poni Island’s glorious blue skies. This time, they took their time flying above the Poni wilds, and eventually the Vast Poni Canyon. Quatre had remarked that Poni looks so beautiful up above, with Remilia, Duo and Trowa agreeing immeasurably.

The sky was starting to turn golden when the group arrived at the Altar of Light. After summoning Flygon back to the ride ball and Togekiss flew back towards her master (who was casually sitting in Wing Gundam Zero’s cockpit), Remilia couldn’t help but look at the Gundams surrounding the Altar. They looked so majestic in the sun’s light, especially when it’s starting to set; but what Remilia found so breathtaking, was Wing Gundam Zero holding the badly-damaged Gundam Deathscythe Hell in its arms like it’s a fallen princess. The sun’s light reflected off of the shiny metal, causing some parts to glare, almost painting it in a faint gold hue. It exemplified the small dents and scratches on Wing Zero, its angelic wings especially, as well as the heavy damage Deathscythe Hell sustained while being in Necrozma’s psychic possession.

Mina’s laid-back voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she asked if there were any Pokèmon Trainers that saw the Gundams. Mina replied that there weren’t any from she could see, and aside from several Lycanroc, Murkrow and Jangmo-o, the canyon valley is pretty barren anyway. Remilia thanked her for keeping an eye on the Gundams, with their respective pilots expressing the same. Mina had nodded and climbed onto her Togekiss and flew off to the Seafolk Village.

♫♩*~Xenosaga Episode I - Warmth~*♫♩

“I still have a few more things to give you guys,” Remilia said as she reached into her bag.”

“Ooh!” Duo’s indigo eyes twinkled briefly. “Is it more food?”

“Duo…” Trowa said to him almost exasperatedly.

Remilia giggled a little. “No, it isn’t.”

The braided pilot feigned disappointment.

“Here.” The pink-haired girl brought out a large golden-white crystal that seemed to shine brightly in the setting sun. She walked up to Heero and gave the crystal to him. Next, she dug out a black purple tumbled stone and gave it to Duo. For Trowa, a red rock shaped like a star; for Quatre, a scale that seems to shine all seven colors of the rainbow; and for Wufei, a pinkish-white shell tied from a dark brown leather string.

“I got those from the flea market in Malie,” Remilia explained, taking note of the grateful yet perplexed expressions on the pilots’ faces, Wufei’s especially. “They’re the Shiny Stone and Dusk Stone, which are evolutionary stones, a Star Piece, a Prism Scale and a Shell Bell. The Shiny and Dusk Stones, I got rather involuntarily, the rest I bought willingly. I actually intended them to be souvenirs from my Island Challenge, but… I think it’s fitting that these go from me to you guys.”

The Gundam pilots continued to stare at her.

“The Ultra Wormholes exist…” Remilia fidgeted with her hands. “It’s now a known fact that the Ultra Wormholes lead to different parts of the multiverse, your dimension especially, but…” She stared at the pilots back. “I’d rather have the Ultra Wormholes just be rumors. More than that… I’d rather not have anyone accidentally go through these wormholes and get themselves lost in them. The Ultra Wormholes existing might not be the case for your world, but me giving those things to you… Now that you know that the multiverse exists, and the Ultra Wormholes exist, I want you guys to keep this a secret.”

“Because nobody would believe us even if we told them the whole truth,” Heero concluded.

“And you wish for us to keep the truth to ourselves by giving us these,” Quatre added.

Remilia nodded quickly. “It’s also proof of your time spent here. I wanted you to keep these in remembrance.”

Duo shoved the Dusk Stone in his jodhpur pocket. “Thanks, Remi.” He then walked towards Remilia and embraced her into a big hug. “I’m gonna miss you lots, kiddo. Your Pokèmon pals, especially.”

Remilia gingerly wrapped her arms around his waist to return the hug. “I’m gonna miss you most of all,” she said hardly above a whisper.

They released each other and Duo massaged her bare shoulder. “Don’t you worry your cute pink head over us, Remi. We’ll be fine.” He passed a wink onto her.

Quatre also walked up next to Duo, and he and Remilia embraced each other in a hug. “Although the circumstances are a little unusual, we’re glad to have arrived in this world, Remilia. In fact, meeting you and all kinds of wonderful Pokèmon are the only good things here.”

Remilia peeled herself from Quatre’s hold, feigning shock and betrayal. “What?! What about Pokèmon battles? Didn’t you enjoy watching them?”

“Well…” Quatre bit his lip. “To be honest, deep down, I don’t think I like seeing Pokèmon fighting one another… But, it’s actually hard to hate because Trainers like you always take good care of them.”

Remilia chuckled. “That’s what makes a good Pokèmon Trainer, after all.”

Quatre chuckled back, his visible eye dancing with happiness. “Yeah, definitely.”

The Sandrock pilot backed up a pace, and Remilia looked at Wufei, who--for some reason--looked a little nervous.

Remilia knitted her pink-brown brows together in confusion. “Something wrong, Wufei?”

The Altron pilot averted his nervous gaze to her and produced something from underneath his blue tank top and showed it to her with both hands. Remilia’s eyes widened at the object held out before her. A snowglobe? With a female and male Frillish dancing together? Where the world did Wufei even get this? Better yet,  _ how? _

Wufei directed his dark brown eyes to her, his cheeks pinking slightly. “Here. Take this.” He snapped his head back to face her full-front. “Th-this my way of saying sorry for the way I treated you, alright?! T-take it before I change my mind!”

Remilia took the snowglobe from Wufei’s hands and looked at it a little longer. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” She then put the Frillish snowglobe in her ruffled shoulder bag and sidestepped so she can walk towards Trowa.

As soon as she did, she found out that the top of her head is only at where Trowa’s chiseled chest ends. It was already hard enough that she had to bend her head upwards just to get into eye contact with him…! She tried to wrap her arms around Trowa’s neck, but only partially. 

The Heavyarms pilot seems to be amused by this and took her hands into his, and guided her to stand tip-toe on his gray shoes. The additional leverage had Remilia successfully wrap her arms completely around his neck with his around her tiny waist.

“Please take care of yourself,” Trowa said in a low but gentle voice, smiling.

“Same to you.”

They both released each other and Remilia stepped off of his feet. Last target, Heero Yuy.

Remilia took a sidestep to him and smiled at him warmly, expecting him to say something. To her surprise, Heero bent down slightly to touch the side of her head and pet it a few times, his usual stoic expression unwavering. What surprised her even more? Heero’s lips formed a smile--a  _ genuine  _ smile--as he tilted his head slightly.

“Take care… champion,” he said to her in the same gentle and kind tone he gave her back on the shrine yesterday, while she was crying over the apparent loss of Lunala and Duo after they lost their first battle against Necrozma. Remilia wanted to cry at the site of his unusually kind and soft face, but… she just couldn’t find her voice.

Heero moved away from her, his hand going along with him. Remilia could have sworn his gentle expression remained.

“Let’s all get back home,” Duo finally said to the group.

“Yeah, let’s,” Quatre agreed.

Remilia watched the Gundam pilots walk up the stone-carved steps towards the Altar and to their respective Gundams. While watching, Remilia would admit that she’s a little sad, but it’s outbalanced by her happiness. Her happiness at the fact that they’re going back home, to whatever friends or family they had that were most definitely worried sick about them since their space war ended. But even so, she can’t forget… she still has one more role to play in this.

She reached into her Gorebyss fanny pack and pulled out her Master Ball, which contains Lunala. Prior to her and the boys leaving Aether Paradise earlier today, Wicke gave Lunala back to her, stating that while fully healed from its injuries, Lunala needs the rest of the day to rest. She released Lunala, and the latter flew up to the golden sky as the boys were getting into their Gundams’ cockpits. 

As soon as all of them were put out of sleep mode, Lunala flew to a spot away from them all, and opened its glowing red third eye as it enters its “Full Moon Phase.” The blue ripple appears, with Lunala psychically making it grow big enough for the Gundams’ heights, and shoots out a wide blue ray at the ripple, creating a very large Ultra Wormhole.

The Gundam pilots activated their thrusters (in Wing Zero’s case, flapped its main wings) and one by one, they disappeared into the Ultra Wormhole, with Wing Zero entering through last. As soon as it did, the Ultra Wormhole closed to a white vertical slit before disappearing.

Lunala floated down to the dirt ground, exhausted, but thankfully not as much as yesterday. Remilia summoned it back into the Master Ball, intending to drop it off to Pokè Pelago so it can rest up further. She looked to the sky. It was an even more golden hue than it was before. Beautiful as it is, she’d rather want to go back home, maybe crash into her bed for a few hours before her mother returns home from work.

Sighing sentimentally, Remilia summoned her ride Flygon and flies all the way back to Melemele, while taking the time to admire the setting sun in the golden sky, where the light would gleam for just a while longer.


	20. Epilogue - End of Paradox

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, guys, the epilogue! Read the author's notes at the end for something special! ;)

Epilogue - End of Paradox

__________________________________________________________________

♫♩*~Xenoblade Chronicles - Memories~*♫♩

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*AC 195, Earth*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Ultra Wormhole opened in the golden sky of the setting sun, and out emerged the five Gundams, landing on a beach shoreline one by one. Wing Gundam Zero, who was still carrying the battle-damaged Gundam Deathscythe Hell in its arms, softly landed in the water, creating big waves underneath its feet. But it was close enough to the shoreline so that Heero and Duo and descend down from there.

Quatre became the first to lower himself to the sandy ground using the tether cord, then Trowa and Wufei. Heero came down last with Duo holding on to him for physical security so he wouldn’t risk falling out of Heero’s arm wrapped around his waist.

Once all five Gundam pilots have descended safely, Quatre walked away from them to take a better look at the sunset in front of the group. 

“We’re finally home,” he breathed with relief.

Trowa took out his smartphone and unlocked it, mostly to check the date and time and see if they really are in the same time period as they were during the Eve Wars. To his relief, the digital clock and calendar read December 25th, AC 195, 15:45 PM, and he relayed the information to the other pilots, all of them breathing a sigh of relief. 

“It would suck if we arrived back home and realized that  _ years  _ have practically passed,” said Duo, who cannot stop grinning.

“Still, though,” Quatre replied to him. “I find it hard to believe that we’ve been gone for no less than a few or so hours.”

Duo shrugged. “Well, that’s ‘cuz time between dimensions and realities and shit aren’t in total synch with one another. I wouldn’t be surprised that if we went back to Alola in, say, a week’s time only to find that a few months have passed there.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

“That being said…” Wufei took a couple of steps towards the group. “Heero, did you really destroy the falling piece of Libra?”

“I’m more than certain I did,” Heero replied honestly. “I believe it was the exact same moment when I shot it down when the Ultra Wormhole had opened and swallowed us all.”

“Do you think anything else was caught in the Ultra Wormhole’s range?” Duo asked.

“It’s a possibility,” Trowa replied. “Although the worst I could predict would be chunks of the Libra being flung to some other dimension.”

Duo shrugged again. “Can’t be helped, I guess.”

“Still, though…” Quatre placed his arms behind his back. “That was quite the adventure we had. To think that the multiverse theories were true all along…”

“And we’ve got Aether to thank for that!”

The rest of the pilots felt uncomfortable with Duo’s mention of Aether, coupled with the fact that Remilia supports the Aether Foundation 100%, but they decided to let it slide.

“With all that said and done,” Wufei spoke up. “What should we do about our Gundams?”

The boys’ mind briefly went blank. “That is a very good question,” replied Quatre.

Trowa exhaled as he planted his hands on his hips. “The war between Earth and colonies is already over, so… maybe put them in storage for the time being?”

The rest of the pilots stared at him with surprised and concerned faces, as if asking if he needs a mental check, given what he has gone through for the past few or so months. 

“I don’t think that’s a bad idea…” Quatre finally said after a moment of silence.

“If they get around to outlawing mobile suits, we can just destroy them.”

“That sounds reasonable,” said Wufei.

“Well, there’s one small problem,” Duo said as he pointed his thumb towards Wing Gundam Zero.

The pilots looked at the direction Duo’s thumb was pointing and realization hit them, Quatre in particular. 

“Oh,” he said sadly. “That’s right…”

“I can program Zero to do the job,” Heero offered.

“By all means, do so,” said Duo unhesitantly.

Heero nodded slightly with a grunt and walked back towards his Gundam. Taking off his gold sneakers and loose socks and stuffed them into each, and rolling up his skinny jeans, he walked into the seawater, holding his sneakers, and climbed to the tether cord as it lifted him up to Wing Zero’s cockpit.

After typing in new commands in the computer system, he descended down to the beach water and reunited with the group. As soon as he did, Wing Zero started walking through the shallow waters, carrying Deathscythe Hell in its arms.

The Gundam pilots watched solemnly as Wing Zero started its march, its figure shrinking the farther away it gets from the shoreline. Their heartstrings tugged as they watched this special funeral, Duo’s especially. As odd as it sounds, all of the pilots formed a special bond with their Gundams; in a few cases, they might have displayed vague hints of sentience, even if other people would say otherwise. The Gundams are more than just machines; they’re their partners, comrades, possibly even “friends.”

Wing Zero finally stopped at a far enough distance from them, its silhouette blackened by the setting sun. Its angel wings were half-submerged in the water, making it… almost more beautiful than ever somehow. Wing Zero slowly lowered its arms, Deathscythe Hell slowly sinking underneath the surface, making large waves crashing against Wing Zero’s torso. Wing Zero seemed to watch its comrade sinking slower, and slower, until its figure faded in the dark blue abyss. It simply stood there even as it did, almost as if in mourning.

Back on the beach, Quatre let out a sad sigh. “I’m sorry, Duo.”

The braided pilot turned back to him with a smile on his face. “Don’t be. Being soldiers isn’t what we really wanted to be, anyway, these Gundams a part of it. Still… I really couldn’t help but miss my buddy anyway.”

The Sandrock pilot let out a small smile and a soft sigh. “I get what you mean. We all do.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me.” Duo took a couple steps towards his blonde friend. “Both your eye and hand are gonna be okay, right?”

“Yes, they will.”

“One of your sisters is a doctor, right? Maybe you should check in with her to see how they’re healing up.”

“I’d have to make up a story, though…”

“So? You can just say we got ambushed by a chemical attack started by some Ozzies and you got the worst of it.”

Quatre couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

Meanwhile, Heero stared out into the sunset, his mind replaying the events that had transpired in the past few days. He couldn’t even find an adjective within his analytical brain to describe his and the others’ time there, him being the reincarnation of one half of Necrozma being one of them. To be honest, he has a lot more to cope with that he already had gotten.

Slowly, Heero reached his hand towards the setting sun as if to grab it. Vaguely, he could see himself glowing and sparkling in his skin darkened by blocking the sunlight with his hand. It looks like Hikari is almost completely recovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wheee happy ending. =p
> 
> Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading Black Rainbow! This is my first fanfic in a very long time, so I'm sorry for any errors I might have made while writing this! Reasons why are on my FF.net.
> 
> So! What did you guys like about this fic? What parts you didn't like? Pokemon fans, you folks gonna watch Gundam Wing in the future? You Wingers, gonna play Pokemon Sun and Moon (or, like, not, since I'm sure most of you don't have a 3DS... but there's a few LPs of Sun and Moon on YouTube ^^;)?
> 
> Also, I do have a loose sequel planned out for this, I've only got the first chapter half-done and I intend to finish it and upload it on FF.net first, and then this site. This fic, I'm planning on uploading onto my DeviantART, so for those who have a dA, be sure to check that out and watch me, too. Those on AO3, don't forget to subscribe for more content from me~ There's more great stuff where that came from! ;)
> 
> Bye-bye for now~!


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